Richard Gere duels dragon over Liu Xiaobo

Hollywood icon and a staunch supporter of the Dalai Lala, Richard Gere has taken up cudgels on behalf of Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese rights activist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace this year but whose government has slammed him with an 11-year prison sentence.

On Friday, when the Nobel awarding ceremony at Oslo went on without the presence of Liu, Gere, who chairs International Campaign for Tibet, the NGO advocating human rights in China-controlled Tibet, joined 10 other groups in New York to honour the jailed activist, Human Rights in China said.

At an event in the Ralph Bunche Park across from the UN, Gere, speaking about what Liu's writings and the man himself stands for, said: "It's clear that, in the end, brute force can never really stop that innate universal drive for happiness, for freedom, for expression, for community. And this Nobel Peace Prize for Liu Xiaobo demonstrates that we are part of that community."

The actor, who has visited Nepal several times to meet with Tibetan leaders and refugees, also read excerpts from Liu's trial statement, "I have no enemies: my final statement" that went on to say he looked forward "to the advent of a future free China for there is no force that can put an end to the human quest for freedom..."

Another rights group, the China Aid Association (CAA), said it was using the occasion to redouble its campaign for another Chinese activist who was nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize: this year and in 2008. Gao Zhisheng, a renowned lawyer famed for taking up the cases of the minorities, especially Christians and the Falun Gong, has been missing since April. CAA said it was campaigning to deliver nearly 150,000 signatures to Chinese embassies and consulates around the world asking for his whereabouts.

But the dragon remained unmoved. The Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu issued a statement, calling the peace prize "old Cold War tactics" and saying it was naive to think such pressure could sway China. "Liu Xiaobo is a convicted criminal who is serving a prison sentence for breaching Chinese law," the statement signed by China's ambassador to Nepal Qiu Guohong said. "(The Nobel award) is open support for criminal activities conducted in China."

"When it comes to how to promote human rights and what the key issues are, the Chinese people understand it best," the Chinese envoy said. "We welcome constructive criticism... But it would not be acceptable should one criticise China for the purpose of pressuring China, undermining its stability or hindering its development." TNN