Pakistan on Friday came out in support of its ``all-weather friend’’ China by questioning the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize 2010 to Liu Xiaobo ``for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China’’. Beijing has viewed the selection as a display of the arrogance and prejudice of the Nobel Committee against China.
In a statement that came exactly a week after the announcement was made in Oslo last Friday, the Foreign office said Pakistan was ``surprised and deeply perturbed’’ by the choice; adding that the politicisation of the Prize for the purposes of interference in the domestic affairs of states is not only contrary to the recognized principles of inter-State conduct but also a negation of the underlying spirit conceived by the founder of the Prize.
Maintaining that Mr. Liu was sentenced by the Chinese judicial system and has ``done nothing that could possibly qualify him for the Prize’’, Pakistan said the decision runs contrary to the established principles for the award of the Prize and ``therefore cannot but be seen to be detracting from the prestige associated with this award’’.
Pakistan, according to the Foreign Office, deeply values the implementation of the commitments that the People’s Republic of China has made for upholding the principles and norms of international law, humanity and civilized conduct.
``China has made bold strides on the road to socio-economic development. Pakistan has no doubt that under its sagacious and visionary leadership, the Chinese people will continue to pursue their national development priorities which have brought about substantial improvement in the standard of living and the human rights of 1.3 billion people. The spirit of humanity that imbues the Chinese civilization is a shining example to the rest of the world.’’
