By DPA,
Oslo/Beijing : Chinese officials have cancelled a planned meeting with a Norwegian cabinet minister – apparently in protest over the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, Norway’s public broadcaster reported Monday.
Fisheries Minister Lisbeth Berg-Hansen had been due to meet officials from China’s fisheries Wednesday, but the meeting was cancelled, members of the Norwegian delegation told NRK. Berg-Hansen and her delegation were in Shanghai Monday.
On the eve of the visit, Bergen-Hansen did not anticipate any fallout following the announcement of the prize Friday by the Norwegian Nobel Committee and noted that it was completely independent of the government.
The committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu for his “long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China”.
The Chinese government reacted with anger, saying Liu is “a criminal” and that the award violates the principles of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Liu authored “Charter 08”, a political manifesto similar to the “Charter 77” of one-time Czech dissidents. He was arrested at his Beijing home ahead of the charter’s planned release.
Liu is currently serving an 11-year sentence for inciting subversion of state power in China.