The Maple Leaf Rag
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Canada
October 8, 2010
The Nobel Prizes in case you didn't know, are a series of awards given each year in several key categories. These include Literature, Physics, Medicine and others, including the Peace Prize. Last year, Barrack Obama won the Peace Prize. Canadians have won many Nobel Prizes. The United States and many European citizens have won many more. China has won two this year, one for Chemistry and, as mentioned, the Peace Prize. I'm sure you will hear about the man who won the award for chemistry but you probably won't hear about the man who won the Peace Prize. Why is that? Because he is in prison, considered an enemy of the state. Liu Xiaobo, president of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, was arrested in 2009 after being detained by the Chinese government for six months. He has been sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges that he was 'inciting subversion of state power'. Liu won the prize for "his long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights in China." Mr Liu simply wanted a multi-party government in China. His imprisonment has to do with the Charter 08 manifesto. Have you heard of this? Probably not, since it has been completely hidden by the Chinese government. This charter is described this way : The Charter calls for 19 changes to improve human rights in China, including an independent legal system, freedom of association and the elimination of one-party rule. Seen as a threat to the Chinese government, Mr. Liu wastes his life away in prison, while the world wonders why China, “ the world’s second largest economy, the largest holder of foreign reserves and the world’s largest exporter...doesn’t currently have a single Nobel prize winner in its universities, its institutions or its government." (from the Toronto Star). Thanks for reading. |
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