Nineteen countries will fail to show up in Oslo on 10 December for the awarding ceremonies of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for the imprisoned Liu Xiaobo, a dissident from China, according to its Website.
The move is an apparent reflection of the strong Beijing pressure to boycott the event, the Norwegian prize committee said on Tuesday.
Forty-four countries have confirmed their attendance at the Ceremony, and two (Algeria and Sri Lanka) have not yet confirmed.
The 19 countries, who for "various reasons" will not attend are:
1. Afghanistan
2. China
3. Colombia
4. Cuba
5. Egypt
6. Iran
7. Iraq
8. Kazakhstan
9. Morocco
10. Pakistan
11. The Philippines
12. Russia
13. Saudi Arabia
14. Serbia
15. Sudan
16. Tunisia
17. Ukraine
18. Venezuela
19. Vietnam
The Nobel Peace Prize has angered China. A foreign ministry spokeswoman said that the Nobel committee is orchestrating an anti-China farce.
Because Liu is imprisoned and none of his relatives were allowed to leave China to travel to Norway to receive his award, the Ceremony will consist of an unoccupied chair and a photograph of Liu on the podium. The rest of the program will be filled with speeches and musical interludes by children's choir, as requested by the 54-year-old Liu.
Click here for more details.
No comments:
Post a Comment