No Release for Nobel Winner

China refused to back down Wednesday night and release Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo on the eve of the awards ceremony in Oslo. Liu is serving an 11-year sentence for writing and circulating a “subversive” petition, and the Chinese government has forbidden Liu, his wife, or any member of his family from attending the ceremony. Nineteen countries (including China) will boycott the ceremony, after China warned the international community not to attend, or there would be “consequences.” Meanwhile, China has created an alternate Nobel known as the Confucius Peace Prize, claiming the Oslo committee had supported “a criminal while 1.3 billion ‘dissents’ that are dissatisfied with the Nobel committee.” The New York Times reports WikiLeaks cables showed the U.S. pressured China going back to 2009 to release Liu.