Chinese must stand up for Nobel Peace Prize

• Source: Global Times
• [02:31 March 12 2010]
• Comments

With the publicizing of this year's nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize, it is clear that some Westerners are launching a new round of political game for exerting pressure on China.

A few among the 237 names proposed are Chinese, according to a recent Western wire service report. And these include Liu Xiaobo, Hu Jia and Rebiya Kadeer, who are radicals or separatists long opposed to the Chinese government.

It is not the first time that anti- Chinese government activists are being publicly proposed for the coveted award. Under the rules, nominations are not made public by the Norwegian Nobel Committee until years later. There are publicity-seeking individuals and organizations that circulate names of nominees. The names circulated in that wire service report appear to needle China.

There is something else that deserves attention.

When some Westerners attempt to hijack the Nobel Peace Prize as an anti-China platform, the credibility of the prestigious prize – supposed to award those who "shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses" according to Alfred Nobel's will – would be inevitably eroded.

This explains the urgency for Chinese across the world to stand up on the Nobel Peace Prize issue against these motivated Westerners.

There are many who have dedicated themselves to sustainable development in China in the past three decades. But only those opposed to China have been picked for being publicized. Is it because anti-China organizations are too powerful? Or, is it because those who truly know China are not willing to fight back?

Firm and swift action must be taken by the global Chinese majority to condemn those who try to manipulate the Nobel Peace Prize to discredit China.