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 day. China Central Television's main evening news programme, "Xinwen Lianbo", did not report on it. Chinese journalists and dissidents said the Central Propaganda Department had instructed media to censor or otherwise under-report on Liu Xiaobo and the peace prize award. The Chinese government ordered the deletion of all print and broadcast stories on the topic; In an editorial, the Communist Party–run "Global Times" attacked the Nobel Peace Prize as a "political tool of Western interests" that was being used to foment "endless political strife in Chinese society, causing a Soviet-style breakup." Another "Global Times" article said the award was "another