STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Mo Yan, the Chinese winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature, on Thursday declined to issue a direct call for the release of jailed compatriot and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo and said he would not back a petition for his freedom. <\/p>\n
A group of 134 Nobel laureates including the Dalai Lama, wrote to Chinese Communist Party chief and president-in-waiting Xi Jinping urging that he release detained Liu, who won the prize two years ago, and his wife. <\/p>\n
The case has drawn attention to China's human rights record, although China itself says that Liu is a criminal and decries such criticism as unwarranted interference in its internal affairs. <\/p>\n
Mo, a portly 57-year-old whose adopted pen name Mo Yan means \"don't speak\", refused to express support for Liu. <\/p>\n
\"I have already issued my opinion about this matter,\" he told a news conference in Stockholm days ahead of the formal award ceremony. <\/p>\n
\"I have said this prize is about literature. Not for politics,\" he added. <\/p>\n
In October, after the award announcement, Mo said he hoped that Liu would achieve his freedom as soon as possible. <\/p>\n
\"I am sure you know what I said that day (in October). Why do you want to repeat that? Time is precious,\" he said. <\/p>\n
Pressed on whether he would support the call from the 134 laureates, Mo said he had \"always been independent\". <\/p>\n
\"I like it that way ... when I am forced to express my opinion, I will not do it,\" he said. <\/p>\n
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Chinese Nobel winner dodges call for laureate's freedom<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Mo Yan, the Chinese winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature, on Thursday declined to issue a direct call for the release of jailed compatriot and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo and said he would not back a petition for his freedom. A group of 134 Nobel laureates including the Dalai Lama, wrote to Chinese Communist Party chief and president-in-waiting Xi Jinping urging that he release detained Liu, who won the prize two years ago, and his wife. Continue reading