[1] The laureate, once an eminent scholar, was reportedly little-known inside the People's Republic of China (PRC) at the time of the award due to official censorship;[2][3][4] he partook in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and was a co-author of the Charter 08 manifesto, for which he was sentenced to 11 years in prison on 25 December 2009.

Liu, who was backed by former Czech president Václav Havel and anti-apartheid activist and cleric Desmond Tutu, also a Nobel Peace Prize winner, received the award among a record field of more than 200 nominees.

[5] In December, the Chinese Foreign Ministry continued the rhetorical assault, stating "more than 100 countries and international organisations [had] expressed explicit support of China's position".

China's official news agency, Xinhua, attacked the West for its "Cold-War or even colonial mentality" and for daring to "regard themselves as the judge, the teacher [who] assume that they can forever distort the fact and block the truth by using political maneuvers.

[n 1] Liu was the third person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while in prison or detention after Germany's Carl von Ossietzky (1935) and Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi (1991).

[11] Among the nominees were Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina, the International Space Station,[12] the Internet[11] and its three founders Larry Roberts, Vint Cerf and Tim Berners-Lee.

[11] In January 2010, Václav Havel and others—including the 14th Dalai Lama, André Glucksmann, Vartan Gregorian, New Zealand politician Mike Moore, Karel Schwarzenberg, Desmond Tutu and Grigory Yavlinsky—published an article endorsing Liu.

At 2 pm on the day of announcement, a crowd of about 100 journalists, supporters, and friends who had gathered outside the main entrance to the Beijing housing estate where the Lius resided were denied entry.

The South China Morning Post reported that policemen stationed inside their apartment at the time of the announcement prevented Liu Xia from meeting with journalists and other well-wishers.

"[42] In what was described by Chinese media–watchers as a surprise because of its historical professionalism, China Youth Daily published an article containing Beijing students' expressions of anger and disbelief over the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu.

"[45] A PRC foreign ministry spokesman accused politicians from "some countries" for using the award to further their own political agendas: "This is not only disrespect for China's judicial system but also puts a big question mark on their true intention.

[3][21] Dissident groups reported on 18 October that numerous supporters and associates of Liu may have been detained by police—that Tiananmen Mother Ding Zilin, and her husband Jiang Peikun, had not been seen or heard of for four days, and that their phones were cut off.

Economist Mao Yushi (who had signed Charter 08), Ai Weiwei, and the human-rights lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan were all barred from outbound travel at Beijing's airport, ostensibly because their departure from China could "endanger state security".

[68] We're calling upon Chinese authorities to respond to the peace prize with rationality and realism, and to take stock of warm responses from home and abroad to gain clear understanding of the world's opinion and where people have placed their hearts.

John Pomfret of The Washington Post said a wide spectrum of Chinese and foreigners believed that Liu's award "could actually resonate more deeply within China than any similar act in years".

[71] The open letter by Xu Youyu et al., which described Liu as "a splendid choice" because of his advancement of human rights causes and the peaceful fight against social injustice, amassed signatures from about 200 mainland intellectuals and activists; it was posted in Chinese, English, French and Japanese on websites hosted outside China.

[69][70] Artist and critic Ai Weiwei said that, although the regime ought to feel the most ashamed, "intellectuals who had drifted away from their public responsibilities" should bear some of that burden for betraying values they once strove for.

[39] Accustomed to circumventing Chinese internet censorship, bloggers and forum-users used variants of Liu's name[77] and posted subtle or cryptic messages to express their elation about the award or sarcasm towards the state.

[10][87] The Speaker of Hong Kong's legislature turned down an adjournment motion on 15 October submitted by Leung Kwok-hung that called for the release of Liu on grounds that such debate "lacked urgency and would not produce irreversible consequences".

[40] The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten revealed that Foreign Minister Støre had a pre-emptive meeting with Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjørn Jagland, about Liu as the expected recipient, two weeks before the announcement.

[25] European Commission President José Manuel Barroso stated that "the decision of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee is a strong message of support to all those around the world who, sometimes with great personal sacrifice, are struggling for freedom and human rights.

[107] The Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper expressed his delight, and said he hoped the award "would cause our friends in the Chinese government to look seriously at that issue of his release from prison.

"[113] The United Arab Emirates expressed regret over the "politically motivated" decision to award Liu, which it said was "against the UAE's fundamental belief in respecting other nations' sovereignty and non-interference.

"[120] Human Rights Watch said the 2010 award honours "all those in China who struggle daily to make the government more accountable"[121] and "shatter[s] the myth where the Communist Party presents itself as the voice of the Chinese people".

He also argued that the choice of Liu was divisive in view of China's memory of Western imperialism, and of Alfred Nobel's dying wish to reward a person "who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations".

[35] Radio Free Europe reported Solidarnost (in Russia) planned to hold a public rally in support of Liu in Saint Petersburg, but the authorities refused permission.

"[126] The Telegraph said that the award was justified not only by Liu's own courage, but was "a rebuke to Western governments, so hypnotised by China's riches and cowed by self-interest that they have shut their eyes and ears to the regime's abuses of human rights.

[132] The Economist recalled how the Soviet Union prevented Andrei Sakharov from accepting his Nobel Peace Prize in 1975,[133] and suggested that Chinese leadership would probably have expected such a comparison.

During the ceremony, the Nobel committee chairman Thorbjørn Jagland credited China's leaders with the "extraordinary" economic transformation that has lifted millions of people out of poverty, but said they "must regard criticism as positive" considering the nation's new status as a world power.

[157] On the other hand, a huge image with three empty chairs and five cranes adorned the front page the edition of 12 December of the Southern Metropolis Daily; ambiguously, the headline read: "2010 Asian Para Games Are Ready to Start Tonight in Guangzhou".