LIU XIAOBO

The major wars that the U.S. became involved in are all ethically defensible.

I have viewed the West as if it were not only the salvation of China but also the natural and ultimate destination of all humanity.

Hatred is corrosive of a person's wisdom and conscience; the mentality of enmity can poison a nation's spirit, instigate brutal life and death struggles, destroy a society's tolerance and humanity, and block a nation's progress to freedom and democracy.

In China the underworld and officialdom have interpenetrated and become one. Criminal elements have become officialized as officials have become criminalized.

Free expression is the base of human rights, the root of human nature and the mother of truth. To kill free speech is to insult human rights, to stifle human nature and to suppress truth.

I hope that I will be the last victim in China's long record of treating words as crimes.

The free world led by the U.S. fought almost all regimes that trampled on human rights.

The Internet is truly God's gift to the Chinese people.

My tendency to idealize Western civilization arises from my nationalistic desire to use the West in order to reform China. But this has led me to overlook the flaws of Western culture.

In the years before its victory in 1949, the [Communist] Party newspapers were constantly criticizing the Chiang Kai-shek regime for repression of free speech, and often issued loud appeals on behalf of persecuted voices of conscience.

Those who dare to speak out about major public events may not receive tangible benefits, but they receive the very considerable reward of high moral reputation among fellow Chinese as well as in the international community.

From B.A. to M.A. and on to Ph.D., my academic career was all smooth sailing. Upon receiving my degrees, I stayed on to teach at Beijing Normal University.

Love as intense as ice, love as remote as blackness.

There is no force that can put an end to the human quest for freedom, and China will, in the end, become a nation ruled by law, where human rights reign supreme.

It took Hong Kong 100 years to become what it is.

In my view, Reform and Opening Up began with the abandonment of the 'using class struggle as guiding principle' government policy of the Mao era and, in its place, a commitment to economic development and social harmony.

China, as a major nation of the world, as one of five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and as a member of the U.N. Council on Human Rights, should be contributing to peace for humankind and progress toward human rights.

If there has been any progress in the Chinese society and politics over the last 20 years, it is all because the citizens have been pushing for change.

In order to exercise the right to freedom of speech conferred by the Constitution, one should fulfill the social responsibility of a Chinese citizen.

My praise is perhaps an unforgivable poison.

My dear, with your love I can calmly face my impending trial, having no regrets about the choices I've made and optimistically awaiting tomorrow.

I do my best to make every word from my pen a cry from the heart for the souls of the dead.

For those of us in the opposition movement under dictatorships, part of our job is confronting police and spending time in prison. So, a dissident not only needs to learn how to oppose oppression but also how to face the crackdowns and time in prison.

Ultimately, change will happen when problems persist and enough people are concerned.

I have no enemies and no hatred. None of the police who monitored, arrested, and interrogated me, none of the prosecutors who indicted me, and none of the judges who judged me are my enemies.