The Chinese government is putting pressure on the Nobel committee not to award the peace prize to Liu Xiaobo. The activist is currently serving an 11-year sentence for subversion. According to the director of the Nobel Institute, Geir Lundestad, deputy foreign secretary Fu Ying said giving the prize to Liu would damage relations between China and Norway. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Liu’s actions are “diametrically opposed to the aims of the Nobel prize”. The winner of the 2010 Nobel peace prize is due to be announced in Oslo on 8 October.