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Politics & Society

China denounces Nobel decision, blocks coverage of ceremony

China accused the world of meddling in its affairs after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in absentia to imprisoned democracy activist Liu Xiaobo, AP reported. "We oppose anyone making an issue of this matter, and oppose anyone interfering in China’s internal affairs in any way," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement released Saturday. Liu was represented at the ceremony in Oslo on Friday by an empty chair, the first time since the 1930s that the award couldn’t be handed out. The BBC and CNN news channels went dark in China when they ran live coverage of the ceremony. Journalists who gathered outside Liu’s home in Beijing – where his wife, Liu Xia, has lived under house arrest since the Nobel Peace Prize announcement in October – were escorted away by police. China has suspended trade talks with Norway in response to Liu being honored and pressured foreign nations not to attend the ceremony.

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