Today we want to highlight another individual who needs our attention and prayers. Liu Xiaobo is a longtime Chinese human rights advocate and democracy activist. During the late 80s when the Tiananmen Square protests cost China so many young lives, Liu Xiaobo negotiated a peaceful withdrawal of many of the students. This man’s efforts for reform culminated in the writing of ‘Charter 08’ a document calling for democracy and basic human rights in China. Because of his pivotal role in writing the document, the authoritarian government of China gave Liu Xiaobo an 11-year prison sentence.
This was par for the course in Communist China, and no one outside the human rights community paid much attention. But then the Nobel Peace Prize Committee announced that it had selected Liu Xiaobo as the 2010 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. All eyes turned to China and the world remembered that in practice Chinese citizens have no human rights.
Despite a government ban on the news, many throughout China are celebrating. Unfortunately this has spawned a new wave of arrests as the Chinese government tries to stamp out what it sees as insurrection. China Aid reports that several leaders have been detained and dozens of others have been interrogated or put under surveillance.
This brings home a sobering point. The totalitarian government of China is still in power. They are still oppressing people. Liu Xiaobo is still in prison and may not even know that he has won the Nobel Peace Prize. But now more than ever the people of China need our prayers. We need to pray that someday China will be a place where the gospel is freely preached and our brothers and sisters in Christ can live in peace. If such a day occurs it will come because of the efforts of Liu Xiaobo and others like him.