Jailed Chinese Dissident's 'Final Statement'Liu Xiaobo, awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, made a 'final statement' dated December 23, 2009, two days before he was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Translation of the Chinese text is by David Kelly, an Australian professor of China Studies at the Chinese Research Center of the University of Technology Sydney.
I still want to tell the regime that deprives me of my freedom, I stand by the belief I expressed twenty years ago in my 'June Second Hunger Strike Declaration' -- I have no enemies, and no hatred...For hatred is corrosive of a person's wisdom and conscience; the mentality of enmity can poison a nation's spirit, instigate brutal life and death struggles, destroy a society's tolerance and humanity, and block a nation's progress to freedom and democracy.I hope therefore to be able to transcend my personal vicissitudes in understanding the development of the state and changes in society, to counter the hostility of the regime with the best of intentions, and defuse hate with love...Freedom of expression is the basis of human rights, the source of humanity and the mother of truth. To block freedom of speech is to trample on human rights, to strangle humanity and to suppress the truth.I do not feel guilty for following my constitutional right to freedom of expression, for fulfilling my social responsibility as a Chinese citizen. Even if accused of it, I would have no complaints.
