Yesterday there was a virtual 2010 Nobel Peace Prize award to Liu Xiaobo, virtual because the Chinese activist in in jail.

Born on December 28, 1955, Liu Xiaobo is active in campaigns for civil rights in China and has been sentenced various times for his criticism to the communist party, considered counter-revolutionary propaganda. Among Liu Xiaobo’s “faults” there are his requests for free elections and individual freedom.

In 1989 Liu Xiaobo took part to the Tiananmen demonstration, where he contributed to avoid a direct confrontation after the government had sent the army to crush with any means necessary the students protest.

Liu Xiaobo fearlessly kept on pursuing his ideas of freedom and in 2004 he was awarded the “Fondation de France” prize by the “Reporters Without Borders” organization for his defence of the press freedom.

In 2008 Liu Xiaobo was the promoter of the “Charter 08” manifesto, getting inspiration from the ’70s Czechoslovak dissidents in occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The regime answer was to sentence him to eleven years of jail for inciting subversion of state power.

Liu Xiaobo’s detention led to various international protests and to the nomination for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel assignment to che Chinese activist was announced on October 8.

The censorship by the Chinese regime was immediate and included Liu Xia, Liu Xiaobo’s wife, being put under house arrest with no charge. The regime also used quite histerical tones to comment on the Noble Peace Prize assignment to Liu Xiaobo.

While in China a huge police presence discouraged any unauthorized demonstration there was the virtual award of the Nobel Prize: the only precedent of this kind go back to 1936, when German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky couldn’t get the prize because he was in a Nazi jail.

Actress Liv Ullmann read on behalf of Liu Xiaobo the message pronounced by the Chinese activist last year before the tribunal that sentenced him for being the promoter of “Charter 08”.

Sixteen nations didn’t send a representative to the ceremony because of the Chinese regime pressure. Their absence say a lot about the economical relationship that China has with many nations and its consequent influence.

A lot of nations buy huge amounts of goods produced in China by cheap labour at low prices and in the last years China started investing abroad the earnings it gets from those trades, increasing its influence.

Condemnation of injustice that happen in China is often less strong than the one towards other nations because it’s convenient to us to keep our economical relationship with China but we must be aware that in this relationship there’s a hidden cost that in the future we could pay dearly if we’ll become too dependent from an illiberal regime.

Let’s hope that the empty chair where yesterday Liu Xiaobo’s absence stood out can be a wake up call for the world that defines itself free!