By Li Chenggang

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo, who is now serving a term of imprisonment in China.

Some questions have arisen following the award, including who Liu is and what made the Norwegian Nobel Committee prefer him to other candidates.

Liu was born in 1955. He once worked as an "educated youth" and a worker. He became a teacher at Beijing Normal University after he gained his master's degree from the university in 1984.

Four years later, he acquired a doctorate degree in art and literature from the same university.

From then on Li chose verbal attacks on celebrities as his main means to fame. But, while this method increased his notoriety, it also began exposing his real nature.

In an interview with the then chief editor of a Hong Kong magazine in 1988, when asked about his comments on why "some people criticize the national character of Chinese people," Liu did not conceal his disrespect toward Chinese people.

"Chinese people have plotted, directed and appreciated all the tragedies themselves, and this is possibly related to their nature as an ethnic group," Liu said.

When asked: "Under what conditions can China possibly realize a really historic transformation?" Liu replied: "After undergoing a hundred years of colonial rule, Hong Kong has become what it is now. The mainland is so big that it certainly needs 300 years of colonization by the West to achieve Hong Kong's progress."

"I even doubt 300 years is enough," he added.

At the same time, Liu also made great efforts to trumpet Western political, economic and cultural systems.

But when it came to the country that nurtured him, Liu chose to pour scorn and even curses on it. "Chinese people are all impotent in flesh and in spirit," "the quality of Chinese people lies at a low level," and "Chinese people lack creativity," he said, adding that human weaknesses "have been amplified in Chinese people to a maximum."

Liu said he feels ashamed to be Chinese and believes his biggest misfortune was his failure to learn the English language proficiently, otherwise, he would have extricated himself from his connections with China. He has even gone so far that he remains reluctant to even mention the word "China." Liu's attitude is the same as that of Western people who once branded China as the "sick man of East Asia," and "an inferior nation."

Liu has also on many occasions extended his support to campaigns for "Taiwan independence" and "Tibet independence," and he has even put forward the concept that China should be separated into 18 countries.

In 1989, Liu saw an opportunity to achieve even greater fame. He decided to return to the mainland from an academic visit to the US and was at the forefront of the unrest in Beijing.

After being arrested by the police, Liu pleaded guilty and petitioned for leniency. To try and avoid imprisonment, Liu even wrote a "letter of repentance" and vowed to be a man "useful to the motherland and the people."

In view of his "sincere attitude," the Chinese government decided not to impose a prison sentence.

However, Liu broke his promises and continued his activities from 1991 onward. He was sentenced to "education through labor" in 1995 and 1999 on the charge of "disturbances to social order."

From the mid-1990s, Liu began to work for a company in the US subsidized by a CIA-backed foundation. He was well paid, and even during his imprisonment Liu has continued to be paid every month.

Despite his contempt for China and its people Liu has always claimed that his activities are his responsibility as a Chinese citizen. However, his words and acts have exposed the hypocrisy of his "honest image."

Liu's anti-government remarks and articles have been merely a means of earning money.

"Your life will become more meaningful if you have a certain amount of money" is his mantra in support of his "lifelong cause" against the Chinese government.

To ensure his income, Liu has made unremitting efforts to work for the anti-China Western forces, reviling the government and the socialist system.

He has also utilized the Internet in an attempt to get more people to join his attempt to change China's current political system and overthrow the government led by the Chinese Communist Party.

Liu's remarks and acts are already beyond the scope of freedom of speech and his proposals, which aim at implanting Western political institutions in China and overthrowing the CPC's leadership, contravene the country's Constitution and laws.

In December 2008, Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison on the charge of subversion.

The author is a guest correspondent of the Global Times. forum@globaltimes.com.cn