This discussion board is worth two marks. As you may know, Liu Xiaobo recently won the Nobel Prize for Peace, perhaps the most prestigious prize in the world. Here is the official statement from the Noble Prize Committee:

https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2010/press.html

Two questions

1) When did you first become aware of this man? It's okay if this is your first awareness of him now.

2) What are your thoughts about him winning this honour?

As background, I can tell you he's famous for being one of the four "Junzi" (the term used to describe the Confucian ideal man) who negotiated with the government for the safe exit of the students from Tiananmen Square during the demonstrations there in Beijing 1989, although the promised exit routes were actually blocked making it more difficult for the students and others to safely leave as the army moved in. He's also famous for being one of the authors/signees of "Charter 08," a petition calling for greater human rights and democratic freedoms in China. For those of you tired of my Western views and the notion that Western people just don't understand China, Charter 08, was authored by 350 Chinese intellectuals and prominent citizens both inside and outside the government including Chariman Mao's fomer principal secretary. Here is an English translation of the charter as published in Foreign Policy:

http://foreignpolicy.com/2010/10/08/charter-08/

Liu's involvement with Charter 08 landed him in jail where he remained until his death two years ago.

Just last year, his wife was finally released from house arrest.