Nobel peace prize: “In the long term, this prize may help bring about a new era of democracy in China”

Chinese dissent Liu Xiaobo was awarded the 2010 Nobel peace prize on October 8. One of our Observers, Wu Wei, who has known the jailed dissident for years, spoke to FRANCE 24 via webcam – defying the Chinese government's condemnation of the award.

Liu Xiaobo, 54, is one of the authors of the “Charter 08”, a key manifesto signed by over 350 Chinese intellectuals and human rights activists to promote political reform and democratisation. He is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence for "inciting subversion of state power". On October 12, his lawyers suggested they would consider asking for a retrial.

The Chinese foreign ministry has issued a statement harshly criticising the Nobel committee's choice, saying that it "showed a complete lack of respct for the Chinese justice system".

If you have any questions for our Observer, post a comment under this article and we will forward him your message.

Wu Wei is a Chinese human rights activist. He works with the Independent Chinese Pen Centre and lives in Guangzhou, China.

I first met Liu Xiaobo on the Internet, in 2003, when I created the website "Democracy and Freedom". I have known him for more than seven years.

Lu Xiabobo’s wife, Liu Xia, returned to Beijing last night, and has been put under house arrest. Police have asked her not to speak to or contact journalists in any way.

In the short term, I don’t think that Xiabobo’s Nobel prize will change the Chinese government’s policy towards dissidents. At first, Beijing may even step up its repression of grassroots political or social movements, because it knows that they may be encouraged by this Nobel prize. But in the long term, it may act as a sort of catalyser for pro-democracy movements and help bring about a new era of democracy in China”