×

News

Wuer Kaixi makes appeal at World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates: “Free Liu Xiaobo”

by Yumi Kanazaki, Staff Writer

Wuer Kaixi, a former student leader during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, was in attendance at the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates when the event opened at the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima on November 12. He is attending the summit on behalf of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize recipient, the pro-democracy activist Liu Xiaobo, who is currently imprisoned in China. Mr. Wuer said, “If Mr. Liu could be here today, he would have given his strong support to the goal of abolishing nuclear weapons.”

Wuer Kaixi was a student under Liu Xiaobo at Beijing Normal University, and the two joined forces in leading the protests at Tiananmen Square for democracy in China. Mr. Wuer was the first speaker during the summit’s second session, which involved the theme “A world without violence: does security need nuclear weapons?” He referred to his time as a university student, saying that Mr. Liu had always stressed the importance of reason and non-violence.

Mr. Wuer had hoped to read a message from his former teacher at the summit, but he has been unable to make contact with Mr. Liu. He called on those in attendance at the gathering to “encourage China to become a responsible member of the international community” and he appealed for Mr. Liu’s unconditional release.

At the summit, Wuer Kaixi has been reunited with his old friend, the 14th Dalai Lama, the supreme leader of Tibetan Buddhism. They smiled as they exchanged greetings with one another. At a press conference, Mr. Wuer said, “The Dalai Lama and I both want to stress the importance of dialogue with the Chinese government, even as they consider us enemies. We will continue to work together to achieve this goal.”

The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates is drawing attention not only to nuclear abolition but also to human rights issues in China. Walter Veltroni, co-chair of the summit and the former mayor of Rome, has indicated his strong desire to include the issue of Liu Xiaobo and human rights in the summit’s Final Declaration.

(Originally published on November 13, 2010)

Archives