Group frowns on PHL govt's decision to skip Nobel rites

An advocacy group seeking to promote free expression in the country on Wednesday urged the government not to bow to Chinese pressure to withdraw its participation in the Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremonies for jailed Chinese pro-democracy dissident Liu Xiabo. In a statement, the Center for International Law (CenterLaw) said the withdrawal "is a blow to the cause of free expression." "More than ever, we are called to uphold free expression is a cornerstone of democracy," said Prof. Harry Roque, Centerlaw chair. "The last thing the Philippines should be known for is as a supporter to the repressive policies of the Chinese government." The Philippines has declined an official invitation from the Norwegian Nobel Committee to the awarding ceremonies for Liu, a renowned Chinese writer and human rights activist who is serving an 11-year prison term in a Chinese jail for campaigning for reforms and an end to one-party rule in the People’s Republic of China. The Philippines is among the 19 countries that will be skipping the ceremony in Oslo, Norway on Friday. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila confirmed this, but declined to state the reason for not sending a representative to the gala. "We will not attend the event," DFA spokesman Eduardo Malaya had earlier said without elaborating. But the CenterLaw statement noted that in several news reports, a senior Filipino diplomat was quoted as saying on condition of anonymity that the Philippines did not want a further strain to its relations with China, already frayed as it is by the August 23 hostage-taking incident in Manila that resulted in the deaths of eight tourists from Hong Kong. Liu took part in the Tiananmen protests in 1989 and was a leading author behind Charter 08, the manifesto of such rights in China that was published on December 10, 2008 — the 60th anniversary of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The following year, Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison and two years’ deprivation of political rights for "inciting subversion of state power." Liu has consistently maintained that the sentence violates both international human rights charters and China’s own constitution. Following the announcement by the Nobel Committee of its decision to recognize Liu for his unstinting advocacy, the Chinese government has embarked on a campaign to boycott the awarding ceremonies. Roque said Liu is a prisoner of conscience who only wanted greater freedoms for his fellow Chinese. "And yet the Chinese government is calling him a criminal for simply saying what many others cannot say in public," he said. — KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV