The Norwegian prime minister, Mrs. Erna Solberg, visited China April 7–10 this year. This was the first visit by a Norwegian prime minister in seven years, since diplomatic relations between Norway and China has been frozen – due to the 2010 Nobel peace prize.
Personally I am shocked about how Norwegian media covered our prime minister’s visit.
The Norwegian national broadcasting station (NRK) starts one of its net articles with an interview with dissident Hu Jia. It goes like this: «Hu Jia, one of Liu Xiaobo close allies, is shocked to hear that the Norwegian prime minister is not going to address human rights issues when she visits China. … We live like in the German movie ‘The Lives of Others’.» (Oscar rewarded movie about Stasi during DDR-time)
Also the biggest newspaper in Norway «Aftenposten» and «VG» the second biggest, focus 60-70% on Hu Jia, Liu Xiaobo and the 2010 Nobel peace prize. They also carry attacks on the Norwegian prime minister, «who lacks courage», and (of course) on the Chinese government, who should «immediately release Liu Xiaobo».
Since these news organizations are independent from each other, such a similar way of reporting can’t be coincidental and must be organized. To me it seems that there must be a Nato-connection to the editor or the editorial board.
By the way: In the book «What the U.S. Can Learn from China» by Ann Lee at page 81, she refers a conversation with Michael Massing, former executive editor of Columbia Journalism Review: «Mr. Massing informed me that a reporter and friend of his who worked at the Beijing office of the Wall Street Journal told him that the editors in Washington regularly changed material information and opinions in his articles. Given the twelve-hour time difference, by the time his stories went to press in the West, the editors had found the time to replace all the Chinese interviews with statements from American talking heads who work at think tanks promoting anti-China perspectives.»
It is also thoughts-provoking that the editors of Wikipedia has removed the information on Liu Xiaobo receiving NED-money – information which were there in 2011/2012.
In 2010 I posted an article at Fool’s Mountain, http://blog.foolsmountain.com/2010/10/08/liu-xiaobo/ . But since the NED-links do not work any longer, I post an update here at Hidden Harmonies:
Liu Xiaobo has received money from the American government for years:
1. Grants from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a US government entity, to «Minzhu Zhongguo» or «Democratic China, Inc.», where Liu Xiaobo is the founder.
2005: $136,000
2006: $136,000
2007: $145,000
2008: $150,000
2009: $195,000 + $18,000 (supplement): $213,000
2010: $220,000
Total sum from NED to «Democratic China, Inc.»: $1,000,000
2. Liu Xiaobo has also received money from National Endowment for Democracy (NED) as president of «Independent Chinese PEN Centre, Inc.»:
2005: $99,500
2006: $135,000
2007: $135,000
2008: $152,350
2009: $152,950
2010: $170,000
Total sum from NED for «Independent Chinese PEN Centre, Inc.»: US $844,800
Total support from NED during these six years is US$1,844,800, which is about 14 million yuan – a huge sum of money in China – where salaries are about 25% of the level in the West.
In addition Liu and his staff has probably also received training from the Americans.
What is NED?
NED (National Endowment for Democracy) is funded by the American government, and is subject to congressional oversight. The purpose is to fund individuals, political parties and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) favorable to US interests.
The payment from NED to US-friendly groups is not a new thing. Eric T. Hale shows in his dissertation (2003) that during the 1990s, China and Russia were awarded the highest number of NED grants with 222 and 221, respectively. Total payment to groups in China during these ten years was astonishing US$ 20.999.229. His dissertation can be found at: http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-1105103-140728/unrestricted/Hale_dis.pdf
Former CIA-agent Ralph McGehee writes: «… the current US policy of using (rightly or wrongly) the theme of human rights violations to alter or overthrow non-US-favored governments. In those countries emerging from the once Soviet Bloc that is forming new governmental systems; or where emerging or Third World governments resist US influence or control, the US uses ‘human rights violations,’ as an excuse for political action operations. ‘Human Rights’ replaces ‘Communist Conspiracy’ as the justification for overthrowing governments.»
Patrick French writes: «The NED constitutes, so to speak, the CIA’s “civilian arm”».
Conclusion: In this meaning Liu Xiaobo becomes an American agent. And the Nobel Peace Prize Committee’s 2010 decision, since I already had forwarded them the NED information listed above, becomes a political plot.
N.M.Cheung says
I am not surprised by the Norwegian media’s reporting. Actually I would have been surprised otherwise if they reported positively. Western media have been biased against China since the beginning of People’s Republic, and I don’t expect that to change. I have no problem on Liu Xiaobo receiving money from NED. If he decide that he has enough and want to leave China, I am sure Chinese government will be happy to commute his sentence to time served, and have him enjoy the $1 million prize money in addition to probably millions on a book deal. History will not necessarily be kind to dissidents like him. Consider the Arab Spring and what it has wrought. Those Facebook revolutionaries may blame Assad for decimated Syria and not on the U.S., but China has her priorities straight on people’s lives, and not on some utopian dream.
Charles Liu says
What a devoted servant to Uncle Sam is Liu Xiaobo. 14 million yuan and not one cent went to his health care, check up, cancer screening…