2009 Nobel Peace Prize the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize closed just 11 days after Obama took office. There were 205 nominations for the 2009 award, which included Chinese and Afghan civil rights activists and African politicians. Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba, Afghanistan's Sima Samar, Chinese dissident Hu Jia and Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Morgan Tsvangirai had been speculated to be favorites for the award. The five members of the Nobel Committee are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament to roughly reflect the party makeup of that body. The 2009 Committee comprised two members of the Norwegian Labor Party, one from the left-wing Socialist Left Party, one
2010 Nobel Peace Prize on the tenor of the debate in the West: "Liu Xiaobo's politics have been reduced to a story of a heroic individual who upholds human rights and democracy. His views are largely omitted to avoid a discussion about them, resulting in a one-sided debate." Its survey of 500 press articles published in Hong Kong about Liu showed "only 10 were critical of the man or peace prize." News agencies reported the Confucius Peace Prize, established at the suggestion of "Global Times" in response to the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to a jailed dissident. The organiser denied any involvement