LIU AND CHANGE

NOBEL EUPHORIA FAILS TO MASK TOUGH REALITY IN CHINA

Ben Blanchard

Reuters, October 9, 2010

BEIJING (Reuters) - The euphoria overseas and in some domestic circles at dissident Liu Xiaobo's winning of the Nobel Peace Prize has failed to mask deeper unease that his victory will likely bring little change in Communist Party-ruled China.

Liu, 54, has been a thorn in the government's side since 1989 when he joined student protesters on a hunger strike days before the army crushed the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement and has been in and out of jail ever since.

Yet in today's booming and bustling Beijing -- with its luxury boutiques, well-dressed residents and sleek new subway lines -- the heady days of 1989 are a distant memory and public discussion is taboo. Few people know who Liu is.

The award was ignored by Chinese media, apart from a few brief newspaper articles carrying the Foreign Ministry's condemnation of the decision as an "obscenity."

"I've never heard of him," said one Beijing businessman waving his hand dismissively, who gave his family name as Han, in comments typical of those heard on the street when Liu's name is mentioned. "I'm too busy to watch television."

The government's grip on power is as tight as ever, and it has shown no signs of relaxing its stance toward the small band of Chinese "rights defenders" who continue to mount seemingly futile legal challenges against the Party.

Many signers of the "Charter 08" petition which called for sweeping political reforms have either been locked away, put under house arrest or otherwise harassed. Perhaps the most famous of whom is Liu, jailed last Christmas Day for 11 years

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