Liu Xiaobo
Awards & Honours
1
Awards Won
3
Honours
2
Records
The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize is the centre of Liu Xiaobo's record, and the circumstances are what make it singular. He won it while serving an 11-year sentence, making him the first Chinese citizen to receive the Peace Prize while resident in China and the only laureate ever unable to attend the ceremony or give an acceptance speech because his own government held him in prison. The empty chair in Oslo that December said more than a speech could have. Beyond the prize, his institutional legacy includes seven years leading the Independent Chinese PEN Center, the continued circulation of his banned writings abroad, and the Liu Xiaobo Human Rights Award, whose first ceremony took place in Leipzig in 2026. His name now functions as a benchmark in other human rights cases, which is its own kind of recognition.
Awards
Honours & Distinctions
Nobel Peace Prize
Awarded for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China; accepted on his behalf while he was imprisoned.
President of the Independent Chinese PEN Center
Led the organisation from 2003 to 2007.
Liu Xiaobo Human Rights Award
An award created in his name; the inaugural ceremony and a symposium on constitutional democracy in China were held in Leipzig.
Records & Feats
First Chinese citizen to win the Nobel Peace Prize while resident in China
Awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize while imprisoned inside the People's Republic of China.
Only Nobel Peace Prize laureate unable to attend the ceremony or deliver an acceptance speech
He was in prison at the time of the 2010 award, and the prize was accepted on his behalf.