1. a) Define subversion.
b) Why is Liu Xiaobo currently in prison?
c) What did Mr. Liu actually do that led to the charge against him?

2. What is Charter 08? Be specific.

3. How many times, for how long, and for what reasons has Liu Xiaobo been in prison?

4. What has the Chinese government banned Mr. Liu from doing because of his support for democracy?

5. Liu Xiaobo won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for "his long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights." The Chinese government, which had warned the Nobel committee not to give him the prize, reacted to his award by saying in a statement "Liu Xiaobo is a criminal who has been sentenced by Chinese judicial departments for violating Chinese law." Awarding the peace prize to Mr. Liu ran "completely counter to the principle of the prize and is also a blasphemy to the peace prize."

A Wall Street Journal article on Mr. Liu's Nobel Prize states: "China's human rights record had slipped lower on the international agenda in recent years, as the Obama administration and other Western governments focused on commercial relations with Beijing. In February 2009, soon after taking office, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on a trip to China that Washington continued to press the Chinese government on human rights but that 'our pressing on those issues can't interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate-change crisis and the security crisis.'"

What do you think the U.S. government can/should do to support democracy activists like Mr. Liu? Explain your answer.