-That they are, but by foreign powers (China is not the only one!), its independence is often cast in doubt. Doubly so as the Norwegian parliament elect members to the Nobel committee, and they tend to choose has-been politicians to put them out to pasture.

The result being that while the committee is nominally independent, its ties to government are strong enough for China, for instance, to put relations with Norway in the freezer for several years after Liu Xiaobo was awarded the prize in 2010.