Asian students at Penn &Drexel have mixed reaction to Chinese dissident's Nobel Prize

The awarding of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize to a jailed Chinese dissident was met with a combination of joy, neutrality and even criticism yesterday by some students at the Penn and Drexel campuses.

Liu Xiaobo, 54, China's most-prominent dissident, has championed free speech, democratic reforms and peaceful, political change in his country.

His writings, spread on the Internet, have made him a criminal in the Chinese government's eyes. After co-authoring the Charter '08 document, which called for more freedom and an end to the Communist Party's political dominance, Liu was sentenced last year to 11 years in prison.

Yesterday afternoon, a few Chinese students in University City felt comfortable with their free-speech rights here, but did not want their names published.

"If he's saying the government, communism, is wrong . . . that's almost the same as terrorism," said one 18-year-old woman from Beijing, a freshman at Penn.

"It's like trying to gather some people to totally destroy the current situation," she explained. "Any country would not allow that to happen."

Saying that Liu was "too extreme," she said he didn't deserve the prize, and awarding it to him was "too political."

Another freshman at Penn, an 18-year-old from central China who wouldn't reveal his name, said: "This topic is very sensitive. If I decide to go back to China, I could have some repercussions."

He said he was "neutral" to Liu's winning the prize. "Some news organizations in the West tend to exaggerate human-rights cases in China," particularly "freelancers," who may not really know what's going on inside the country, he said.

Meanwhile, a Drexel woman who gave her last name as Tian, from northeastern China, said: "Of course, I'm very happy." It's "a different field besides the scientific field. Also, he's from China."

Chinese state media blacked out the news yesterday. The government criticized the decision, saying it would harm its relations with Norway, where the Nobel committee is based.

One student who had no qualms about giving his name yesterday was Derek Chu, 20. "I think it's personally great for anyone from Asia to get exposure," said the senior at Penn's Wharton School, who lauded the news.

Noting how Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's 1991 Nobel Peace Prize shone a spotlight on that country's repressive regime, he said Liu's win would be good to bring attention to China. "China needs that," he said.

Chu, by the way, isn't from China. Born and raised in Houston, his father is from Hong Kong and his mother is from Taiwan.

But, "We all identify with Chinese people," he said. "It's all good in the 'hood."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.