Norway has been left scrambling to contain damage to its relations with China after the award of the Nobel peace prize to a Chinese dissident caused anger in Beijing.
China summoned Norway’s ambassador to Beijing on Friday to protest against the Norwegian Nobel committee’s decision to hand its prize to Liu Xiaobo, a leading Chinese campaigner for human rights and democracy.
China’s foreign ministry said the award would “damage Sino-Norwegian relations”. Norway is negotiating a bilateral trade deal that would be the first between China and a European country. Some see it as a dress rehearsal for a future agreement with the European Union.