In
this March 31, 2006 file photo, Chinese AIDS activist Hu Jia speaks
during an interview at a cafe in Beijing. Hu Jia won the European
Union's top human rights prize Thursday Oct. 23, 2008, despite a
warning from Beijing that his selection would seriously harm relations
with the 27-nation bloc. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
(Ng Han Guan - AP)
SHANGHAI, Oct. 23 -- The European Parliament on Thursday awarded its
top human rights prize to jailed Chinese dissident Hu Jia despite
warnings from China that its relations with the 27-nation bloc would be seriously damaged if it did so.
In selecting Hu to receive the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought,
the European lawmakers said they are "sending out a signal of clear
support to all those who support human rights in China." Hu has
advocated for the rights of Chinese citizens with HIV-AIDS and
chronicled the arrest, detention and abuse of other activists.
The award honors Andrei Sakharov, a Soviet physicist and Nobel Peace
Prize winner who fought against nuclear proliferation and was a leader
in the country's pro-democracy opposition party.
"Hu Jia is one of the real defenders of human rights in the People's
Republic of China," European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering
said in announcing the award.
When Hu was revealed earlier this month to be among the three
finalists for the Sakharov Prize, China's ambassador to the EU, Song
Zhe, sent a letter to Poettering asking him to use his influence to
make sure Hu does not win. She said honoring Hu "would inevitably hurt
the Chinese people and once again bring serious damage to China-EU
relations," according to the Associated Press.
"Not recognizing China's progress in human rights and insisting on
confrontation will only deepen the misunderstanding between the two
sides," Song wrote.
Hu, 35, has been speaking out for the rights of China's
"laobaixing," or ordinary citizens, since his college days, when he was
active in several environmental organizations. In 2000 he began pushing
for better treatment of people suffering from AIDS and orphans who lost
parents to the disease. His efforts were focused on Henan Province,
where thousands were infected with the virus in the 1990s through
unsafe blood transfusions. Hu has said that through his work in AIDS,
he began to see larger abuses by the Chinese government and began to
chronicle the harassment and detention of activists.
In the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics, Hu used the Internet to report
on abuses related to the preparations for the games. Chinese
authorities arrested Hu at his home in Beijing in December on charges
of "subverting state authority" through the articles he published
online and through interviews with the foreign press.
In April, he was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison and has been in
government custody ever since. Human rights groups have called for his
release, saying that his arrest was politically motivated and that his
trial did not follow due process.
Yu Jie, a writer whose banned books have challenged the Communist
Party's view on such controversial topics as the 1989 confrontations in
Tiananmen Square, said that the European Union took a bold stand
Thursday that places human rights over politics in China.
"In the short-term, the bilateral relationship between the two will
be intense because the Chinese government needs to protect its face,"
Yu said.
The mobile phone of Zeng Jinyan, Hu's wife, apparently was turned
off by Chinese authorities Thursday, and she could not be reached for
comment.
