The fate of Chinese political prisoner and 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, who was nominated for the Nobel prize by Congressman Chris Smith with the support of other House members, was the focal point of powerful testimony by human rights leaders testifying before the U.S. China Commission Tuesday.

    “One year after the independent Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo, who is a Chinese intellectual and democracy advocate, Liu remains isolated in a prison thousands of miles from his wife, whom authorities are holding under house arrest in Beijing,” said Smith, chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on the People’s Republic of China, at a commission hearing entitled One Year After the Nobel Peace Prize Award to Liu Xiaobo: Conditions for Political Prisoners and Prospects for Political Reform. “Chinese officials apparently remain livid over the awarding of the prize to Liu, as they continue in their campaign to malign Liu and the Nobel Committee. In addition, they have nearly suspended political relations with the Norwegian government, claiming the awarding of the Peace Prize to Liu had done “great damage” to the relations between China and Norway. They blame the Norwegian government because it “supported this wrong decision.” Click here to read Chairman Smith’s opening remarks. 

    Smith sponsored a resolution, H. Res. 1717, approved by the House in December 2010, lauding the struggles of the Tiananmen Square survivor and freedom activist serving an 11-year prison term. Smith (NJ-04) heads the Congressional-Executive Commission on the People’s Republic of China, a congressionally-mandated, bipartisan panel made up of Members of the House and Senate and Presidential appointees serving in the Obama Administration.Smith led a congressional in 2010 effort to nominate both men and Liu for the Nobel prize to be joint recipients. Only Liu was selected.

    Other well known political prisoners were also discussed, including Chen Guangcheng, who is under house arrest and barred from outside contact, and Gao Zhisheng, whose whereabouts are unknown.

    Other witnesses included: Perry Link, Chancellorial Chair for Innovative Teaching, Comparative Literature & Foreign Languages at the Univ. of California and Professor Emeritus, East Asian Studies at Princeton University; Li Xiaorong, Independent Scholar; Marian Botsford Fraser, Chair, Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International; Carl Gershman, President, National Endowment for Democracy; Chai Ling, Founder, All Girls Allowed; Harry Wu, Executive Director, The Laogai Research Foundation & Laogai Museum; Reggie Littlejohn, President, Women's Rights Without Frontiers, and; Pastor Bob Fu, Founder and President, ChinaAid.