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WORLD NEWS Saturday 15 July 2017

Lawmakers say world owes debt of gratitude to Liu Xiaobo

By KEVIN FREKING man Rights, and Interna-
Associated Press tional Organizations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Two pictures were posi-
death of Liu Xiaobo is a tioned prominently in the
catastrophic loss for China hearing room — one of Liu
and the entire world, and and the other of an empty
his contributions to human chair with his Nobel Peace
rights should never be for- Prize placed where he
gotten, members of Con- would have been sitting if
gress said during a hearing he had been allowed to
Friday that turned into a attend the 2010 ceremony.
memorial for China’s most Liu was serving an 11-year
prominent political prison- sentence for incitement
er. to subvert state power. He
Liu died Thursday of liver died at the age of 61.
cancer after spending House Minority Leader Nan-
nearly nine years in cus- cy Pelosi and Smith noted
tody. A House hearing had that they had attended the
been scheduled to exam- award ceremony. Pelosi
ine his health and deten- called Liu “one of the great
tion. The news of his passing moral voices of our time.”
the day before prompted Liu rose to prominence dur-
praise for his life’s work in ing the 1989 pro-democra-
advancing liberty and due cy protests centered in Bei- A man mourns late Chinese Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo outside the Chinese liaison office in
process as well as condem- jing’s Tiananmen Square, Hong Kong, Friday, July 14, 2017. As tributes rolled in Friday to mourn China’s most famous political
prisoner, a newspaper published by the ruling Communist Party dismissed Liu as a pawn of the
nation of the Chinese gov- and became one of hun- West whose legacy will soon fade.
ernment for its treatment of dreds of Chinese impris- (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Liu and his wife, Liu Xia. oned for crimes linked to
“No nation should be the demonstrations after vain,” said Rep. Ed Royce, ademics and activists fa- Square and also served five
judged entirely by crimes of they were crushed by the R-Calif., chairman of the miliar with Liu’s work. They years in prison in China.The
the past, but this crime, the military. It was the first of Foreign Affairs Committee. described the suffering that lawmakers and witnesses
death and silencing of Liu four imprisonments. “His sacrifice and death he endured in prison. wondered how his legacy
Xiaobo, should follow the His last was for co-author- while in the custody of the “Even on his deathbed, he would and could be per-
Chinese Community Party ing “Charter 08,” a docu- Chinese government while had no freedom to leave petuated.
like an unwashable, perma- ment circulated in 2008 serving an unjustified 11- his last words. Now that he Perry Link, a professor at the
nent stain,” said Rep. Chris that called for more free- year prison sentence has is gone the world will nev- University of California at
Smith, R-N.J., chairman of dom of expression, human shined a light on the sad er know,” lamented Yang Riverside, raised the ques-
the House Foreign Affairs rights and an independent state of human rights in Jianli, who participated tion of whether Liu’s efforts
subcommittee on Africa, judiciary. China.” in the demonstrations for were in vain. He said no, but
Global Health, Global Hu- “Liu’s efforts were not in The panel heard from ac- democracy in Tiananmen the answer was difficult.q

Hong Kong court disqualifies 4 lawmakers over oath taking

HONG KONG (AP) — A That followed the govern- to mention the People’s In his ruling, Judge Thomas nesty International Hong
Hong Kong court on Friday ment’s successful move last Republic of China, mak- Au declared the oaths in- Kong, said in a statement
disqualified four opposition year to disqualify two other ing the words sound like a valid due to “slow reading,” that Friday’s decision “con-
lawmakers from office for young lawmakers who question. ‘’intentional intonation,” firms the Hong Kong gov-
having turned their oath- used an anti-China slur as a Veteran activist Leung ‘’repeated insertion of ex- ernment’s agenda to si-
taking into apparent pro- form of protest while being Kwok-hung held up a yel- tra words” and the “use of lence and effectively pun-
tests against Beijing, further sworn in. low umbrella, a symbol of props and theatrical con- ish any speech critical of
entrenching the central The four lawmakers put the street protests. duct.” the present political system,
government’s hold over their own spin on their oaths Lau Siu-lai, a college lec- The four had originally wherever it may occur,
the legislature. in various ways during the turer who was also active been allowed to retake even within the legislature.
The Chinese territory’s Oct. 12, 2016, ceremony. in those protests, read her their oaths, which were ac- “It is the latest damaging
Court of First Instance ruled Nathan Law, a student pledge in slow motion in an cepted, unlike the other sign that expressing politi-
the four had not been sin- activist who helped lead attempt to make it mean- two who were disqualified cal opinions that challenge
cere when they altered massive 2014 pro-democ- ingless, while Edward Yiu, a last year without a second the status quo are no lon-
their oaths, and declared racy street protests, raised university professor, added chance. ger tolerated,” Au had
their seats vacant. his tone when he came phrases about democracy. Mabel Au, director of Am- stated.q