or you may want to explain to me how this whole "China needs to be colonized by the west for 300 years" crap is not extremist style.
In the speech, Liu spends considerable time praising the Communist Party's progress on human rights:
'The weakening of the enemy mentality has paved the way for the regime to gradually accept the universality of human rights. In [1997 and] 1998 the Chinese government made a commitment to sign two major United Nations international human rights covenants, signaling China's acceptance of universal human rights standards. In 2004, the National People's Congress (NPC) amended the Constitution, writing into the Constitution for the first time that "the state respects and guarantees human rights," signaling that human rights have already become one of the fundamental principles of China's rule of law. At the same time, the current regime puts forth the ideas of “putting people first" and "Creating a harmonious society," signaling progress in the CPC's concept of rule.'
After that, he even praises the progress he saw in jail conditions during the decades he's been in and out of the prison system, and offers thanks to a corrections officer who treated him well!
The core issue is that the Chinese government locked someone up for stating an opinion. An opinion not much different in substance than then ones you are stating in this thread.
Would you consider it just for you to be imprisoned for your views alone? I would not, and I think that is also true for other people.
In most western democracies, you can be imprisoned for a multitude of "thought crimes" - denying the holocaust, inciting racial or religious hatred, encouraging acts of terrorism etc.
The US has uniquely strong protections for free speech, but even there I expect that many people would support a ban on certain kinds of speech. How many Fox News viewers believe that jihadi preachers should be locked up? How many New York Times readers believe that white supremacists should be locked up?
Would you consider it just for Assange to be under house arrest in an Embassy?
Would you consider it just for Liu Xiaobo to be under house arrest at his own home?
Well, IMHO, all 3 incidents are unjust. However, they all happened.
Interestingly, Liu Xiaobo earned a Nobel price, but Snowden didn't. Not sure what would happen if the Chinese government awarded Snowden or Assange some special prizes.
I don't agree with Snowden's treatment either, but it's important not to confuse freedom of speech with dissemination of confidential information.
1. Liu is not acceptable by a lot of Chinese people due to his aggressive words on colonial and slavers.
2. Liu was sentenced by the gov due to "subversion".
So to judge Liu, we have to look from at least two different angles, not just "he was sentenced".
Few people thinks 2 is right. I, personally, do not agree on 2 too.
And I am now thinking why most people outside China only know about 2 when they try to judge about Liu?
If you are interested in how he was jailed, search google, there are tons of articles there.
It's not a charge that means a lot to those educated in the west, who would probably view it as a thought crime charge.
Can you explain its use and value better?
If he only expresses some views of his, it's probably OK if he's not influential. If he got awarded some prize that's important worldwide and sometimes awarded to POTUS, well, it's totally a different thing.
Would that alone be enough that I would ask him to be imprisoned? Never.
You're confusing a dislike of his opinions for justification for jailing him, yet again.
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 in Western culture — or, even if I see them, to set them aside intentionally. I have not, therefore, been able to stand apart from Western culture, take a critical view of it and perhaps get a better view of human frailty more generally. I have been obsequious toward Western civilization, exaggerating its merits, and at the same time exaggerating my own merits. 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.