Outside reading

This week I found and article about a Chinese activist who won a rights prize. The award he won is called the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, an exceptionally prestigious award. Hu Jia is his name and he received this award from European Parliament for his critical thoughts and sayings about the Chinese Communist Party. Mr. Hu is a human rights activist and has been jailed for 3 and a half years for his critical writings on Chinese Government's Communism and Human Rights violations. China is unhappy about this award being given to their convict and said that this award will hurt the relations between China and Europe i na letter sent to the European Parliament.
“The European Parliament is sending out a signal of clear support to all those who support human rights in China.” Mr. Hu, who speaks his views clearly and without hesitation on some of the most important topics (i.e. AIDS and environmental protection), is even a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. The Chinese Government would be very upset but many believe that speaking out was what Hu Jia needed to do for the world. “Mr. Hu’s conviction in April was part of a nationwide crackdown against dissidents in what many human rights advocates considered a pre-Olympic silencing campaign”. When looking into the Chinese Government the people who are upset with Mr. Hu and those responsible for the vast majority of all Human Rights violations. If Mr. Hu should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize it could strain relations between China and the World though many seem to think rewarding free thought could be worth the tension.

Yardley, Jim. "Chinese Activist Wins Rights Prize." 23 October 2008 23 Oct 2008 .