China turns down Norwegian diplomatic move

China has turned down a diplomatic move by Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre last week, made with the hope to improve chilled relations between Norway and China.

Relations between the two nations have been strained, after the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2010 to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiabo.

In an e-mail to the Norwegian financial newspaper Dagens Næringsliv the Chinese Embassy in Oslo says that by awarding the Peace Prize to Liu Xiabo, whom they call a criminal, the Nobel Committee, supported by the Norwegian government, was interfering with Chinese internal affairs.

In the mail, the Chinese Embassy states that China attaches great importance to the relations between China and Norway, and has made great efforts to develop the relations.

- We expect that the Norwegian side will make tangible efforts to restore and develop the bilateral relations, the Oslo Embassy states.

(NRK/Dagens Næringsliv)

Monday, 17 October 2011 07:02

Written by Rolleiv Solholm

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