China said the granting of the prize to “a criminal” was an affront to its “legal sovereignty” and would not affect its policies.
“We will not change because of some wind blowing the grass and because of the interference of some clowns who are anti-China,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee offered a picture very different from that presented by Jiang.
Geir Lundestad, the executive secretary of the Nobel Committee, told Reuters the Chinese contention that most nations would stay away was “a very curious way of stating things” because only the 65 countries with embassies in Norway were invited, and 44 of those had accepted.
The committee has said China has mounted an unprecedented campaign to keep envoys from attending.
China has denounced the awarding of the accolade to pro-democracy activist Liu as an “obscenity” and has unleashed a torrent of diplomatic scorn toward host nation Norway, while exerting pressure on diplomats to boycott Friday’s ceremony.
“As far as I know, at present, more than 100 countries and organizations have expressed explicit support for China opposing the Nobel Peace Prize, which fully shows that the international community does not accept the decision of the Nobel Committee,” the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told a regular news briefing.
“After the ceremony, you can see that the vast majority of the international community will not attend the ceremony. Some countries have resident missions in Norway, they will not send representatives to the ceremony,” she said.
With Liu serving an 11-year jail term, his wife under house arrest and many others prevented from traveling, nobody is expected to pick up the Nobel medal and $1.5 million award on his behalf.
Friday’s ceremony will be the first time that a laureate under detention has not be formally represented at the awards gala since Nazi Germany barred pacifist Carl von Ossietzky from coming in 1935.
The Nobel committee has decided to represent the laureate with an empty chair during the awards ceremony, in what it said was a symbol of Chinese policy to isolate and repress dissidents.
The committee said in addition to China, countries declining invitations for the gala were: Russia, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Serbia, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Venezuela, the Philippines, Egypt, Sudan, Ukraine, Cuba and Morocco.
In Manila, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs declined to say why the Philippines was not attending the ceremony. But a senior Filipino diplomat said the reason was to avoid another fracas with China, still angry over President Benigno Aquino’s handling of a bus hijack incident in August that killed eight Hong Kong tourists.
“We do not want to further annoy China,” the official said,
The Nobel committee’s Lundestad said the 44 embassies that had accepted the invitation included those of South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, as well as big emerging states India, Brazil and South Africa.
Algeria and Sri Lanka did not reply to the Committee.
China has detained or placed under house arrest dozens of activists since Liu’s award was announced in October, including his wife Liu Xia, who remains incommunicado, presumed at her apartment in Beijing.
Chinese police have prevented others from leaving the country, including artist Ai Weiwei, apparently fearful some would try and find their way to Norway.
“It is normal that some countries and organizations will not approve of and not attend the Nobel ceremony,” said Pu Zhiqiang, a human rights lawyer. “But this has no logical relationship to the real issue, which is whether or not those who want to attend are permitted to attend.”
China has sent letters to foreign ministries and embassies urging diplomats to stay away from the ceremony and warned of “consequences” for those who support the pro-democracy activist.
“It’s really unfortunate that China is using its political and economic clout to twist the arms of diplomats into not attending,” said Corinna-Barbara Francis, China researcher for Amnesty International, adding it was not the kind of action a country with China’s global presence should be taking.
Activists and dissidents greeted with disbelief China’s claim that a majority of the international community supported its position on Liu.
“What absolute rubbish,” Li Datong, a former journalist and one of the signatories of a petition in October calling on the government to release Liu, told Reuters.
“The Foreign Ministry has no shame. It’s a lie, pure and simple, told without the slightest hint of embarrassment.
