By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, October 3: The Prime Minister of Tibet’s Government in Exile, Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, Friday issued a congratulatory message to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo on his winning the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.
The Kashag (Cabinet) in its message extended “sincere congratulations” to Mr Liu Xiaobo and expressed hope that he would be allowed to receive the Peace prize in person later in December when it would be formally presented. “We Tibetans pray that Mr Liu Xiaobo will be able to receive the well-deserved Nobel Peace Prize in person on December 10,” Rinpoche said in the message.
“The whole of China should be proud of this singular honour bestowed upon one of her sons,” the message reads.
Mr Liu on Friday became the first Chinese to ever win the most coveted peace prize.
Announcing the prize on Friday, the Norwegian Nobel committee praised Liu Xiaobo for his “long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China. The … committee has long believed that there is a close connection between human rights and peace.”
The announcement, however, reportedly provoked a furious reaction from Chinese authorities, who warned that the decision would hurt relations with Norway.
“Liu Xiaobo is a criminal who has been sentenced by Chinese judicial departments for violating Chinese law,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Awarding the peace prize to Liu “runs completely counter to the principle of the prize and is also a blasphemy to the peace prize”, the statement said.
The Tibetan prime minister said conferring the prize on Mr Liu signified the international community’s recognition of the “outstanding contributions” he had made to the “advancement of freedom and personal liberties in China”.
The message further said: “His involvement in organizing Charter 08, which calls for freedom and democracy in China, is an act of unparalleled courage and sacrifice. His support for the Tibet cause and the Middle-Way policy is well known to everyone.
