'Liu Xiaobo must be freed' - Nobel prize committee

10 December 2010 Last updated at 13:26 GMT

The chairman of the Nobel prize committee has called for the immediate release of jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, winner of the 2010 peace prize.

There were two standing ovations at the ceremony in Oslo for Mr Liu, who was represented only by an empty chair.

China has been angered by the award and has waged a campaign in recent weeks to discredit it.

Nobel chairman Thorbjorn Jagland praised China for lifting millions of people out of poverty.

He called it an "extraordinary achievement" but warned China that its new status as a leading world power meant Beijing "must regard criticism as positive".


He said the Nobel committee was calling for Mr Liu to be freed immediately, saying: "He hasn't done anything wrong."

For its part, China's foreign ministry condemned the ceremony as a "political farce".

"We resolutely oppose any country or any person using the Nobel Peace Prize to interfere with China's internal affairs or infringe upon China's legal sovereignty," said the ministry in a statement.

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'Liu Xiaobo must be freed' - Nobel prize committee