Liu Xiaobo And Liu Xia
Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo and his wife, Liu Xia Reuters

China attacked the U.S. Congressional resolution on convicted Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, and urged U.S. policymakers to change arrogant and rude attitude. The country's foreign ministry maintained that Liu, who won this year's Nobel Peace Prize, was not arrested over his calls for democracy, but for the reason that he tried to destabilize the state.

The so-called resolution approved by the U.S. House of Representatives disregards facts and distorts truth, and is flagrant interference in China's internal affairs, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on Thursday.

United States' House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the resolution to congratulate Liu on being awarded the Nobel Prize for peace. The resolution also called upon the Chinese Government to release the pro-democracy activist.

Liu Xiaobo has been serving an 11-year sentence in China on subversion charges and for his involvement in the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests. He is also accused of scripting a charter preaching the need of a political reform towards democracy in China. He would not be present at the Oslo event scheduled for Friday. His wife and supporters have been reportedly placed under house arrest by Chinese authorities.

We urge relevant U.S. lawmakers to stop their wrongdoing on this issue, change their arrogant and rude attitude and show due respect for the Chinese people and China's judicial sovereignty, Jiang told reporters.

Chinese government has been arguing that a vast majority of the international community does not support the Nobel Committee's decision on Liu.

Meanwhile, Serbia defended its decision to join the Chinese-led boycott of Friday's Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic maintained that Beijing was a proven friend. As many as 18 countries have joined China in the boycott. Russia has by far been the biggest supporter of Beijing. Ukraine and the Philippines will attend the event after earlier decision to skip it.

Media reports also suggest that the communist regime in Beijing blocked news websites of the BBC, CNN and Norwegian state broadcaster NRK the day before Chinese dissident Liu is to be awarded the peace prize.

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