6 ms·

Liu Xiaobo, Nobel laureate and political prisoner, dies at 61 in Chinese custody

104 points by wyuenho 9y ago

phreack 9y ago
He may have died of Cancer, but while being denied proper care, serving an 11 year prison sentence for what amounts to an attempt of speech. And its censorship appears to have mostly worked for its intended audience. Truly a sad conclusion.
- girzel 9y ago
  It's true, hardly anyone inside China is even aware of his existence. That said, I've seen direct references to him (and even photos of him) from activist friends in my WeChat feed, which surprises me a bit. I would have thought the WeChat censors would have been working overtime this week...
  - paradite 9y ago
    I hope by now you have discovered the contradiction between your two paragraphs. People know, they just don't discuss it publicly.
    - girzel 9y ago
      A minuscule proportion of the population knows about him. My WeChat feed is utterly unrepresentative of Chinese society at large.
      - paradite 9y ago
        I really want to agree with your projection. However, your only data is contradicting it. Until you have more data, it would remain an assertion.
        girzel 9y ago
        > it would remain an assertion. Yes it would.
EduardoBautista 9y ago
For all the criticism that the USA is receiving recently, I am sure the world would be a worse place if China was the most influential country in the world (which they are trying become) instead of the USA.
- microcolonel 9y ago
  It truly infuriates me when people insinuate that it would be A-Okay for the U.S. to cease to be the sole military superpower in the world. That change alone would trigger world war 3. I say this from Canada. P.S. Voting on Hacker News does not change minds, if you want to convince people to agree with you instead of me, you will need to reply.
- vkou 9y ago
  China kills people for speech. The US kills people for being poor and/or black. There's no shortage of cheerleaders for this in either country. I have to note that most people will find it easier to control what they say, than to change their skin colour.
  - microcolonel 9y ago
    > The US kills people for being poor and/or black. The United States does not kill people for being poor and black. Poor black people kill poor black people for being poor and black. Overwhelmingly so; ask anyone who keeps or audits vital statistics. You can stand around saying that there is some historical basis for this cultural problem, but telling people that whitey is keeping them down is a sure way not to solve any problems. P.S. Voting on Hacker News does not change minds, if you want to convince people to agree with you instead of me, you will need to reply.
    - ceejayoz 9y ago
      > Poor black people kill poor black people for being poor and black. White people mostly kill white people, for the same reasons - crimes tend to be committed in the perpetrators' own communities. This little dog whistle tidbit of "black-on-black crime" people trot out is mainly an indication of how segregated American society still is.
yingliu4203 9y ago
He is the only noble laureate died in jail after world war II. The one before him was died in a jail of nazi Germany.
- gcb0 9y ago
  sadly, the importance of the title is going downhill. giving one out to an enabler of torture and war was a joke. a very sad and twisted joke.
abhi3 9y ago
In case someone wants to learn more about the work that got him imprisoned but also won him the Nobel Prize, start here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_08 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_08
onetokeoverthe 9y ago
Dear greedy elites, Stop manufacturing in Communist China.
- vkou 9y ago
  Much like countries with 'Democratic' in their name, the only thing that's communist about China is the name of the ruling party.
wangii 9y ago
Liu died and everyone came out to consume his death. I bet no non-chinese here knows what exactly he promoted in his political campaign, including his controversial arguments. Nobel Price committee conveniently ignored his support of invasion of Iraq. Yet the supporters of Chinese govt. forgot the piece got him into jail is, in fact has no contradiction to the Chinese law. He was a flawed man but should've enjoyed a longer life. RIP
- blackbagboys 9y ago
  If anyone is interested in learning more about Liu's "controversial arguments", I encourage you to read Charter 08, the document for which he was imprisoned and brutalized: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_08 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_08 Original Chinese: http://www.2008xianzhang.info/chinese.htm http://www.2008xianzhang.info/chinese.htm English Translation: http://www.hrichina.org/en/content/238 http://www.hrichina.org/en/content/238

104 points by wyuenho 9y ago

He may have died of Cancer, but while being denied proper care, serving an 11 year prison sentence for what amounts to an attempt of speech. And its censorship appears to have mostly worked for its intended audience. Truly a sad conclusion.

girzel 9y ago
It's true, hardly anyone inside China is even aware of his existence. That said, I've seen direct references to him (and even photos of him) from activist friends in my WeChat feed, which surprises me a bit. I would have thought the WeChat censors would have been working overtime this week...
- paradite 9y ago
  I hope by now you have discovered the contradiction between your two paragraphs. People know, they just don't discuss it publicly.
  - girzel 9y ago
    A minuscule proportion of the population knows about him. My WeChat feed is utterly unrepresentative of Chinese society at large.
    - paradite 9y ago
      I really want to agree with your projection. However, your only data is contradicting it. Until you have more data, it would remain an assertion.
      - girzel 9y ago
        > it would remain an assertion. Yes it would.

EduardoBautista 9y ago

For all the criticism that the USA is receiving recently, I am sure the world would be a worse place if China was the most influential country in the world (which they are trying become) instead of the USA.

microcolonel 9y ago
It truly infuriates me when people insinuate that it would be A-Okay for the U.S. to cease to be the sole military superpower in the world. That change alone would trigger world war 3. I say this from Canada. P.S. Voting on Hacker News does not change minds, if you want to convince people to agree with you instead of me, you will need to reply.
vkou 9y ago
China kills people for speech. The US kills people for being poor and/or black. There's no shortage of cheerleaders for this in either country. I have to note that most people will find it easier to control what they say, than to change their skin colour.
- microcolonel 9y ago
  > The US kills people for being poor and/or black. The United States does not kill people for being poor and black. Poor black people kill poor black people for being poor and black. Overwhelmingly so; ask anyone who keeps or audits vital statistics. You can stand around saying that there is some historical basis for this cultural problem, but telling people that whitey is keeping them down is a sure way not to solve any problems. P.S. Voting on Hacker News does not change minds, if you want to convince people to agree with you instead of me, you will need to reply.
  - ceejayoz 9y ago
    > Poor black people kill poor black people for being poor and black. White people mostly kill white people, for the same reasons - crimes tend to be committed in the perpetrators' own communities. This little dog whistle tidbit of "black-on-black crime" people trot out is mainly an indication of how segregated American society still is.

yingliu4203 9y ago

He is the only noble laureate died in jail after world war II. The one before him was died in a jail of nazi Germany.

gcb0 9y ago
sadly, the importance of the title is going downhill. giving one out to an enabler of torture and war was a joke. a very sad and twisted joke.

abhi3 9y ago

In case someone wants to learn more about the work that got him imprisoned but also won him the Nobel Prize, start here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_08 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_08

onetokeoverthe 9y ago

Dear greedy elites, Stop manufacturing in Communist China.

vkou 9y ago
Much like countries with 'Democratic' in their name, the only thing that's communist about China is the name of the ruling party.

wangii 9y ago

Liu died and everyone came out to consume his death. I bet no non-chinese here knows what exactly he promoted in his political campaign, including his controversial arguments. Nobel Price committee conveniently ignored his support of invasion of Iraq. Yet the supporters of Chinese govt. forgot the piece got him into jail is, in fact has no contradiction to the Chinese law. He was a flawed man but should've enjoyed a longer life. RIP

blackbagboys 9y ago
If anyone is interested in learning more about Liu's "controversial arguments", I encourage you to read Charter 08, the document for which he was imprisoned and brutalized: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_08 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_08 Original Chinese: http://www.2008xianzhang.info/chinese.htm http://www.2008xianzhang.info/chinese.htm English Translation: http://www.hrichina.org/en/content/238 http://www.hrichina.org/en/content/238