The 54-year-old, who was previously jailed for his involvement in the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests, was sentenced in December to 11 more years in prison for subversion -- a punishment that earned international condemnation.

Liu was arrested in late 2008 after co-writing Charter 08, a widely circulated petition that called for political reform in the Communist-ruled nation.

The bold manifesto, which has been signed by more than 10,000 people since it went online, calls for the protection of basic human rights and the reform of China's one-party system.

"The government opposes (giving him the peace prize) because they fear that it will draw more attention to Liu Xiaobo and to China's situation (on democracy and human rights)," his wife, Liu Xia, told AFP in October, after he was honoured by the Nobel committee.

"If they didn't fear this, then they would not have sentenced him to 11 years for writing an essay," said Liu Xia, who was placed under house arrest at the time of the announcement and has been incommunicado for weeks.

Charter 08 specifically demands the abolition of subversion as an offence in China's criminal code -- the very crime for which Liu has been jailed.

"We should make freedom of speech, freedom of the press and academic freedom universal, thereby guaranteeing that citizens can be informed and can exercise their right of political supervision," the manifesto says.

"We should end the practice of viewing words as crimes."

Liu is also known for his efforts to help negotiate the safe exit from Tiananmen Square of thousands of student demonstrators on the night of June 3, 1989 when the military quelled six weeks of protests in the heart of Beijing.

He was arrested immediately after the crackdown and released without charge in early 1991.

Liu was rearrested and served three years in a labour camp from 1996-1999 for seeking the release of those jailed in the Tiananmen protests and for opposing the government's verdict that they amounted to a counter-revolutionary rebellion.

The holder of a doctorate in Chinese literature, Liu was once a professor at Beijing Normal University, but was banned from teaching at state institutions over his involvement in the 1989 demonstrations.

As a leading member of the Independent China Pen Centre, a grouping of Chinese writers, Liu had remained in close contact with key intellectuals and had been largely free to attend meetings and writer group activities despite constant police surveillance.

Although Liu has been banned from publishing in China, many of his writings advocating greater democracy and respect for human rights have appeared in Hong Kong and overseas Chinese publications.

Some of these writings, which can be downloaded from the Internet inside China, served as evidence in his most recent trial, rights groups said.

Liu continues to command great respect from ordinary Chinese intellectuals, a fact that some say was central to the Communist Party's decision to bring charges against him.

Since his arrest, Western governments, rights groups, scholars, and a coalition of Nobel Prize winners have repeatedly called for his release.

Liu is the first Chinese citizen to win the prestigious Nobel peace prize. The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, won the award in 1989.

Liu is also one of only three people to have been awarded the prize while being jailed by their own government. The other two are Myanmar's Aung Sang Suu Kyi in 1991 and German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky in 1935.

Following the Nobel announcement, calls for his release were renewed, led by last year's peace laureate, US President Barack Obama. Washington has also called on Beijing to lift its house arrest of Liu Xia.

Liu has been honoured by Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders and other rights groups. His essay "The Noble Paradise of Power, the Hell for the Meek" won the Hong Kong Human Rights News Prize in 2004.

Liu and his wife do not have children.

earlier related report
Nobel peace ceremony hails missing laureate with empty chair
Oslo (AFP) Dec 8, 2010 - With the guest of honour stuck in a Chinese prison, this year's Nobel Peace Prize ceremony will centre around an empty chair, as its celebration of dissident Liu Xiaobo continues to split the global community and infuriate Beijing.

"An empty chair, that will make a strong impression," Nobel Institute director Geir Lundestad told AFP ahead of Friday's ceremony in Oslo.

"This emphasises the relevance of the Nobel Committee's choice this year and shines a light on the human rights situation in China," he added.

Friday will mark only the second time in the more than 100-year history of the prize that neither the laureate nor a representative will be able to come accept the award.

The only other time was when German journalist and pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, who was locked up in a Nazi concentration camp, could not travel to Oslo for his prize ceremony in 1936.

Like Ossietzky, who was the first-ever regime critic to receive the prestigious award, Liu has long been an outspoken opponent of Chinese leadership in Beijing.

The writer and former professor, who was at the forefront of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, was jailed in December 2009 for 11 years on subversion charges after co-authoring "Charter 08", a manifesto that spread quickly on the Internet calling for political reform and greater rights in China.

"I have long been aware that when an independent intellectual stands up to an autocratic state, step one toward freedom is often a step into prison," Liu said shortly after his sentence was handed down on Christmas Day.

"Now I am taking that step, and true freedom is that much nearer," he added.

Beijing was enraged by the Norwegian Nobel Committee's pick this year, announced in October, labelling the laureate a "criminal" and placing his wife Liu Xia under house arrest.

And China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu insisted in Beijing Tuesday the prize would not affect how China handles dissidents.

"We will not change because of interference by a few clowns," she said, referring to the Nobel Committee.

Behind the scenes, the Asian giant, which has swelled to become the world's second largest economic power, has been more or less explicitly pressuring ambassadors posted in Oslo to decline their invitation to the ceremony.

A total of 19 countries, including Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, Iraq and China itself, have said they will not attend, the Nobel Institute said, stressing however that some could have other reasons for declining besides pressure from Beijing.

Russia for instance has said scheduling difficulties rather than political considerations were keeping it away.

Serbia meanwhile acknowledged late Tuesday it would not attend the ceremony to maintain good relations with China.

The Nobel Institute emphasised that 44 countries would be represented, including EU member states, Japan, India, South Korea, South Africa, Indonesia and Brazil. The United States will even be represented by outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

"China has made some great economic advances, but the world's governments should not be mesmerised by China's economic growth," Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director Sam Zairi said in a statement this week.

At home, Chinese media have largely shied away from covering this year's Nobel Peace Prize, at the same time as Beijing has worked hard to block its critics from traveling to Oslo.

A number of Chinese dissidents living in exile will nonetheless make the trip.

In addition to the empty chair, Liu will be represented at the ceremony in the Oslo city hall by a photograph and by one of his texts read by Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann.

A day before the ceremony, Amnesty International is planning a demonstration in front of the Chinese embassy and aims to hand over a petition signed by tens of thousands of people in support of Liu.

Nobel Peace Prize host country Norway has itself felt Beijing's wrath since the award was announced, despite its assurances the Nobel Committee, whose members are appointed by parliament, is independent.

Several bilateral meetings have been cancelled and work towards a free-trade agreement between the two countries has been put on ice.

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