China’s newly-named Nobel laureate for literature, Mr Mo Yan, expressed hope yesterday that an imprisoned Chinese winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be freed, putting a dent in the ruling Communist Party’s attempts to use his historic win to burnish its credentials.
Mr Mo, the first Chinese national to win the literature Nobel, made the comments about dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was awarded the Peace Prize while serving an 11-year prison sentence for opposing single-party rule, in response to a question at a news conference.
“I now hope that he can regain his freedom very soon,” Mr Mo said. “If (Liu) can be freed in good health sooner, then he can study his politics and his social system.”
He appeared to be arguing that releasing Mr Liu might allow the dissident to be convinced to embrace the party line.
His statement came amid criticism by rights activists that Mr Mo compromises his artistic and intellectual independence as he is a Communist Party member and vice-president of the official writers association.
It came just after the party’s propaganda chief, Mr Li Changchun, issued congratulations to Mr Mo, saying the award “reflects the prosperity and progress of Chinese literature, as well as the increasing influence of China”.
News of Mr Mo’s win was plastered across newspaper front pages yesterday. The response was a stark contrast to two years ago, when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Mr Liu.
The Chinese government rejected that honour, calling it a desecration of the Nobel tradition, and chilled relations with Norway, where the prize is awarded