Dalai Lama criticises China over its Nobel opposition

Monday, October 11, 2010

BBC News
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This file photo taken on January 11, 2010 shows Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama gesturing after arriving at Bijupattnaik airport in the eastern Indian city of Bhubaneswar . Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on October 11, 2010 criticised China's irate response to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo, Kyodo News reported in Tokyo.(Getty Images)

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has criticised the Chinese government for its opposition to the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.

He said the Chinese government did "not appreciate different opinions". Building an open society was "the only way to save all people of China", he told Japanese media.

Meanwhile, Mr Liu's wife has apparently been placed under house arrest after he dedicated the award to the "martyrs" of Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Mr Liu was a key figure in the protests. He was also involved in drafting Charter 08 two years ago - a document which called for multi-party democracy and respect for human rights in China.

In 2009 he was jailed for 11 years for "inciting subversion".

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China said the decision to honour Mr Liu was an "obscenity".

Beijing said relations with Norway, where the peace prize committee is based, could be under threat by the award. It summoned the Norwegian ambassador to hear a formal protest.

The Dalai Lama, who won the peace prize in 1989, said that China's government "must change".

He made his comments to Kyodo news agency, while passing through Tokyo's airport on his way to the US from India.

Liu Xiaobo was jailed for 11 years in December 2009

Meanwhile, human rights groups say that Mr Liu's wife, Liu Xia, has been placed under house arrest.

A US human rights group, Freedom Now, said she was allowed to visit her husband in jail on Sunday and has not been able to leave her home since.

The BBC Chinese service said Mrs Liu had been able to speak on her mobile phone for only two sentences after returning to Beijing before the line was blocked.

Armed guards are also reportedly on duty outside her home.

There are also reports that more political activists in Beijing have had their movements restricted, including Zhou Duo, who was with Mr Liu during the Tiananmen Square protests.