n">(Reuters) - China's official media accused the West of "launching a new round of China-bashing" ahead of Friday's awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed dissident Liu Xiabao.
Here are some facts about Liu.
LIU AS DISSIDENT:
* Liu was prominent in the 1989 pro-democracy protests centered on Tiananmen Square that were crushed by armed troops, and was jailed for 20 months.
* In 1995, Liu orchestrated several daring petitions to parliament by groups of dissidents and intellectuals. He was held for more than seven months without formal charges.
* On September 30, 1996, Liu and veteran pro-democracy activist Wang Xizhe issued a statement urging the communist authorities to honor a promise in 1945 to give people religious freedom, freedom of the press and speech, and the freedom to form political parties and hold demonstrations.
* They demanded that Communist Party chief Jiang Zemin be indicted for violating the constitution for saying the Chinese army was under the "absolute leadership" of the party instead of the state.
* Within weeks, Liu was sentenced to three years in a labor camp.
MOST RECENT CONVICTION:
* In December 2008, he helped to organize the "Charter 08" petition, which called for sweeping political reforms. It was published on the 60th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
* He was detained almost immediately and held for six months under house arrest.
* A group of prominent foreign academics, lawyers and writers including several Nobel laureates wrote to Chinese President Hu Jintao asking for Liu's release.
* In December 2009, Liu was jailed for 11 years for "inciting subversion of state power" for his role in the petition and for online essays critical of the Communist Party.
* The case and unusually harsh sentence drew protests from Western governments and rights activists at home and abroad.
* In May, Liu was moved to Jinzhou Prison in Liaoning, his home province.
LIFE DETAILS:
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