MCLC: Mo Yan urges Liu Xiaobo's release

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Minggang Li <minggangl at yahoo.com>
Subject: Mo Yan urges Liu Xiaobo's release
*****************************************************

Source: Yahoo News (from AP) (10/12/12):
http://news.yahoo.com/nobel-winner-mo-urges-china-dissidents-freedom-094343
893.html

Nobel winner Mo urges China dissident's freedom
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN | Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — China's newly named Nobel laureate for literature expressed
hope Friday that an imprisoned Chinese winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
will be freed, putting a dent in the ruling Communist Party's attempts to
burnish its credentials with the latest prize.

Mo Yan, the first Chinese writer to win the literature Nobel, made the
comments about dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was awarded the Peace Prize while
serving a 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," Mo Yan said. "If
(Liu) can be freed in good health sooner, then he can study his politics
and his social system."

He didn't elaborate, but Mo — who is a Communist Party member — appeared
to be arguing that releasing Liu might allow the dissident to be convinced
to embrace the party line.

His statement on Liu in his hometown of Gaomi in Shandong province came
amid criticism by human rights activists that Mo compromises his artistic
and intellectual independence by being a party member and vice president
of the official writers association.

The call for Liu's release came just after the party's propaganda chief,
Li Changchun, issued congratulations to Mo, saying the award "reflects the
prosperity and progress of Chinese literature, as well as the increasing
influence of China."

News of Mo's historic win was plastered across newspaper front pages
Friday.

The nationalist tabloid Global Times praised Mo's award as a sign of
Western acceptance of mainstream Chinese culture. As one of China's most
popular writers, Mo represents a rising China in both the economic and
cultural spheres, the paper said in an editorial.

"The Chinese mainstream cannot be refused by the West for long," it said.

The response was a stark contrast to two years ago when the Nobel Peace
Prize was awarded to Liu, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009
for co-authoring a bold call for ending single-party rule and enacting
democratic reforms titled Charter 08.

The Chinese government rejected that honor, calling it a desecration of
the Nobel tradition, and chilled relations with Norway, where the prize is
awarded but whose government has no say in whom it goes to. China's rulers
forbid opposition parties and maintain strict control over all media.

On Friday, Paris-based advocacy group Reporters Without Borders released a
video showing the silhouette of a lone woman identified as Liu's wife, Liu
Xia, smoking by a window at night in the apartment where she has been
under virtual house arrest since October 2010.

The group did not say how it obtained the footage but said it was
difficult and indicative of Liu Xia's imposed isolation and the near
impossibility of approaching her.

"Smoking a cigarette at her window is one of the few freedoms left to
her," said the group, which demanded the release of both Liu Xia and her
husband.

Chinese officials have refused to discuss Liu Xia's condition, despite the
lack of a legal justification for her confinement.

Prior to Mo's comments, famed artist and activist Ai Weiwei told The
Associated Press that Mo was cooperating with a system that was
"constantly poisoning" its people.

"They mock the ones who dare to raise their voice and opinion, and ignore
the sacrifice some have made to gain that right. This is shameful. It is a
shame for the Swedish Nobel Prize committee," Ai said.

At his impromptu news conference, Mo said he'd known Liu, but the two
hadn't been in contact for some time. Mo, 57, and Liu, 56, attended the
same school, Beijing Normal University's Luxun Literature Institute, 10
years apart.

"I didn't have any more exchanges with (Liu) after he left literature and
embraced politics," Mo said. "I don't know really much about many of his
activities."

While Mo has frequently tackled communist failures and other sensitive
topics in his works, some of which have been banned in China, he said
politics rarely enters into his calculations.

"I think this is a victory for literature, not a victory for political
correctness," Mo said. "I am writing in a time led by the Communist Party,
but my works are not limited by partisanship. I have long transcended
class and political limitation."

On Friday, searches for "Liu Xiaobo" or "Nobel Peace Prize" were being
censored on Chinese search engines and social media sites, but looking up
"Mo Yan" or "Nobel literature prize" was allowed.

Mo's win also won sweeping coverage in democratic Taiwan, which China
claims to be part of its own territory.

The island's culture minister, Lung Ying-tai, on Friday called Mo "a man
of humor" who has used that wit to avoid possible persecution.

Lung, a noted essayist, said the prize may help Chinese "open up their
minds and hearts" and engage the world through literature.

___
Associated Press writer Alexa Olesen contributed to this report.