Chinese dissident about to make a nation proud?
The BBC reported yesterday and the Telegraph the day before, that Hu Jia and Gao Zhisheng are prominent on a list of nominees for this year’s award of the Nobel Peace Prize.
True to form, China is already irked by the embarrassment this will cause them, a state of affairs for which the Chinese leaders only have themselves to blame. One has to pity the CCP for whatever malady causes them to maintain their petty charade of a harmonious society while treating free speech and human rights with such complete disdain.
Much has been written about Hu Jia in the Chinese blogosphere. The unassuming human rights campaigner is currently serving a three and a half year jail sentence simply for being a caring, honest, decent citizen. His wife remains under house arrest. An overview of his current predicament can be found here:
Sadly the reality is that even if he gets the prize, which will be announced in a week, it will make about as much difference to his situation as giving it to jailed Burmese politician Aung San Suu Kyi did: none whatsoever.
Maybe so. But it will embarrass the Chinese government and deservedly so. In company with the Olympics politics plays a role here where some would argue that it has no place, just as some past recipients of the prize have been about as connected to peace as the Chinese media is to reality.
Besides, the nominations alone keep Gao and Hu in the spotlight and – quite possibly - alive. This is particularly true of Gao, who insiders say has been brutally tortured during his imprisonment.
It would be interesting to know who the Chinese leaders would nominate from among their people for this award. For certain, none of the names put forward could hold a candle those brave campaigners for justice currently incarcerated for ill-defined crimes against the State, among whose number are counted Hu Jia and Gao Zhisheng. They are Chinese citizens and, all politics aside, their names belong on the shortlist.
Good luck to them both.