Wife of jailed Nobel winner invites dozens to Oslo

BEIJING — The wife of jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo has invited dozens of Chinese activists and luminaries to go to the Nobel award ceremony in Oslo on her behalf because mainland authorities are likely to block her from going.

Liu Xia said in an open letter posted online that she believed her husband would want his friends "to attend this historic ceremony and to share the glory."

Currently unreachable because she is under house arrest, Liu Xia said in the letter that the likelihood of her or her jailed husband being allowed to go to Norway for the Dec. 10 event was slim.

Liu Xiaobo, a writer and outspoken government critic, is serving an 11-year jail term for inciting subversion with Charter 08, a bold call for sweeping political reforms that he co-authored.

Numerous international rights groups have called for his release. On Monday, a group of 15 Nobel Peace Prize winners including the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter issued a letter urging world leaders who will attend the G-20 Summit in South Korea next month to raise Liu's case with Chinese President Hu Jintao during the event.

China's government has reacted angrily to the award, calling it a gross interference in its internal affairs.

Liu Xia's invitation letter lists 143 people, many of them well-known Chinese activists such as Ding Zilin, whose teenage son was killed during the military crackdown against pro-democracy protests around Tiananmen Square in 1989, and Li Rui, the former secretary to revolutionary leader Mao Zedong and an outspoken supporter of democratic reform.

Many of the invitees are frequently placed under house arrest during sensitive periods or are under constant surveillance by security officials, making it unlikely that they would be allowed to leave the country. One invited guest, rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, disappeared in April shortly after announcing he was abandoning his role as a government critic. His family says they have no idea what has happened to him.

Also invited are numerous Chinese celebrities, including film director Chen Kaige, actor Jiang Wen, singer and race car driver Han Han and author Wang Shuo. Liu Xia said in the letter that she had invited prominent cultural figures because she hoped they could help promote social change in China.

"China's social progress needs the joint effort of people from all walks of life," she wrote.