Imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo honored at ceremony with empty chair

OSLO, Norway (AP) — With a large portrait of a smiling Liu Xiaobo hanging front and center, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee crossed the dais and gently placed the peace prize diploma and medal on an empty chair. Ambassadors, royalty and other dignitaries rose in a standing ovation.

The man they honored wasn't there Friday — he is serving an 11-year sentence at Jinzhou Prison in northeastern China for urging sweeping changes to Beijing's one-party communist political system.

And there was no news coverage of it in China, where foreign TV news channels went black as the ceremony began and authorities denounced the award as a “political farce.”

It was the first time in 74 years the prestigious $1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize was not handed over.

Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland drew the first of several standing ovations from the international gathering of 1,000 guests at Oslo City Hall when he noted that neither Liu nor his closest relatives were able to attend.

Tags: nobel peace prize, liu xiaobo, daily updates, news, norway