China: Messages for Liu Xiaobo as Peace Prize Ceremony approaches
It's the eve of this year's Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Norway, but you're not going to read much about it online in Chinese.
Unless, unfortunately, you're on Twitter, where tweeps now in Oslo have already begun live-tweeting Thursday's pre-ceremony events, and where there's also rumor of a live video broadcast in the works. See Global Voices Online‘s earlier posts on China's first Nobel prize here and here.
Amnesty International was smart in setting up the @NobelPeace2010 account to aggregate Chinese users’ messages to Liu Xiaobo, now in prison, where the Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded in his absence. Here's a selection of what Chinese netizens are sending Liu Xiaobo:
热烈祝贺晓波获得2010年诺贝尔和平奖，期待晓波能和刘霞@liuxia64一起去领奖。非常惧怕中国蝉联2011年诺贝尔和平奖。#NobelPeace。
Heartily congratulate Liu Xiaobo in being awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, and I hope he and Liu Xia @liuxia64 can go claim it together. I greatly fear that China will hold the Nobel Peace Prize again in 2011. #NobelPeace
你我都被囚禁，只是囚禁的空间大小不同。期待你享自由的那天，国人都享自由。#LiuXiaobo
You and I, we're all in prison, it's just the size of the cell that differs. I hope that on the day you regain your freedom, the people of this country will be free too. #LiuXiaobo
恭喜晓波大叔，恭喜中国公民 @NobelPeace2010 及#LiuXiaobo
Congratulations to Uncle Liu, and congratulations to the citizens of China #LiuXiaobo
前几天看了一个89年7月份录制的有刘晓波的一个片子，对我来说从一个久远年代去了解了他，反观这次的和平奖，实至名归！
A few days ago I was watching some footage from July 1989, which featured Liu Xiaobo. For me, I had to learn about him from a distant era. It appears that this year's Peace Prize has truly lived up to its name!
你可以不知道亚运会中国拿了多少金牌，你也可以不知道谁是两弹一星元勋，但是本周五，请你记住这个名字”刘晓波“一个为我们争取权利而被关在锦州监狱服刑的人！
It's fine if you don't know how many gold medals China won in the 2010 Asian Games, or all the recipients of the Two Bombs, One Satellite award, but come this Friday, please remember this man Liu Xiaobo, now serving time in Jinzhou prison for fighting for our rights!
我们在观看历史，我们在经历历史，我们也在期待历史，而历史也会审视我们，鞭策我们，改变我们。相信国人会有清醒的时候，也许就在明天！
We are witnessing history as it unfolds, and history is watching us, pushing us on, and changing us. I believe there will come a time when the people of this country wake up, and it might just be tomorrow!
恭喜刘晓波为中华民族敦促自由的声音！
Congratulations to Liu Xiaobo for pushing for freedom for the Chinese people!
祝贺刘晓波先生获奖。自由万岁。
Congratulations to Mr. Liu Xiaobo for winning the award. Long live freedom.
总有一天，刘晓波会载入教科书，每个孩子都会知道曾经有个人为他们的自由奋斗而失去自由。
There will come a day, when Liu Xiaobo is written into textbooks, and every child will know there once was this man who, in fighting for their freedom, lost his.
革命尚未成功，同志们仍须努力
The revolution is not over yet, comrades, the struggle must continue.
Liu Xiaobo (L) and Wang Lixiong, 2008. From photos posted today by Wang's wife, Tibetan blogger Woeser.
Not online; Chinese microblogs are now deleting the most oblique references to tomorrow's Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, and even freezing accounts [zh]. As for blogs, a relatively stringent effort only brought up this one post from Bokee blogger and professor of art at Hebei Normal University, Zhu Xinghua, although even that has since been harmonized. In it he describes the frustration felt in being represented by the central government regarding Liu's having been awarded the Prize:
前天，我的“中美联手是遏制金正日战争挑衅的最佳方案”的帖子发表后，有网友跟帖说：“我现在怀疑楼主是不是中国人。”
对于这位网友的怀疑，我是毫不在意的。因为我对自己是中国人深信不疑。今年9月份，我出门旅游了几天。回到家看到门上贴了个纸条，是这次人口普查的普查员贴的。第二天我拿着户口本以户主身份到社区进行了登记。普查人员对于我主动登记表示了感谢。通过登记应该能够证明我是中国人了。我也为自己是一个中国人感到高兴。
I spent a few days traveling throughout September this year. When I got home, I found a notice stuck to the door, left there by one of the national census workers. The next day, I took my hukou papers
as ID and went down to the neighborhood office to register. The census staff were grateful that I'd come down on my own. Having been able to register should be proof enough that I am Chinese, and I'm happy for it.
听说在这次普查中，有些人故意不配合，与普查员玩起“躲猫猫”的游戏。即使这样，我想他们依然是中国人。只不过不如我积极而已。
但是，在昨天，我看到了我国外交部发言人的一个关于刘晓波的谈话，他说：“对于刘晓波问题，最有发言权的是13亿中国人民，而不是那几位诺委会人士。”他的这段话给我很大的震撼。
So then, yesterday, I saw statements made by the our country's Ministry for Foreign Affairs spokesperson regarding Liu Xiaobo; he said, “with regard to the question of Liu Xiaobo, those with the most say in the matter are the 1.3 billion Chinese people themselves, and not just a few people on the Nobel Committee.” It really shocked me to hear him say this.
因为自刘晓波事件发生以来，已经有二年时间了。在这二年中要想谈一些有关刘晓波的事情几乎是不可能的。我不知道“最有发言权的13亿中国人”中有多少被剥夺了关于刘晓波问题的发言权。最起码我自己是感觉到有一段时间是没有这种权力的。
前几天，中国记者芮成刚代表亚洲提问。引起不少网民的不满。我倒是不太在意。因为芮成钢代表不代表我，对我没有多少伤害。而前天外交部发言人的发言却是代表了我国政府的公权力。他的发言使我对我自己是否属于中国人产生了怀疑。
我是中国人吗？
A few days ago, Chinese journalist Rui Chenggang represented Asia in asking a question, angering many netizens. Actually, I wasn't bothered much by it, because regardless of whether or not Rui Chenggang represents me, I don't stand to lose much. Statements made by the MFA spokesperson two days ago, on the other hand, represent the power behind my country's government, and his statements have led me to doubt whether or now I am still Chinese.
Am I still even Chinese?
2 comments
我刚才在纽约用bing-news搜索了一下“刘晓波”，出来的结果只有这个网站。而如果在GOOGLE-New搜索，可以看到2000多条新闻。
我想这才是真正的恐怖。bing在美国的搜索结果，都要自觉接受中国政府的过滤。现在美国政府的声音，比如美国之音（voice of america)的中文信息，即使在美国，如果你使用bing 或者yahoo搜索的话，也正在接受中国政府的过滤。这真是美国人的耻辱。也许有一天，bing/yahoo 的英文新闻也会接受中国政府的过滤。
这个时候我才真正体会到GOOGLE“不作恶”的含义。然而事实是，邪恶正在战胜正义。
在美国的华人，和所有的人，大家一起来抵制bing/yahoo吧。