往自由之旅

起程去奧斯陸那一天剛好是我的生日，收到不少朋友的祝福電郵。劉曉波是今年的諾貝爾和平獎的得主，我應邀到奧斯陸觀禮。有幸參加這個大日子，不少朋友為我感到高興，紛紛祝賀，當中我受洗的 God Father（也是好朋友） Bill McGurn給我的電郵尤其令我感動。

他說到人生最值得慶幸的，不是得到了些甚麼收穫，而是做對了事情。沒有錯，我們享有的不是擁有的東西，做對了事情才帶來真正的快樂。起程那一天更有好友請我和太太到榮榮園吃了一頓出奇地好的上海菜，那確是快樂得很的一天。

抵達奧斯陸那一天的傍晚楊健利先生安排了個聚會。會上我第一次遇到許多鼎鼎大名的中國異見人士，包括吾爾開希，那是我第一次跟他碰面。他上台講了一番令我非常感動的說話，而那也令我體味到六四時他當上學生領袖，那絕非是偶然發生的事。他有領袖的氣質和智慧，前途未可限量。

起程時李怡兄又傳來電郵。他說知道我會在奧斯陸作演講，要我交講稿給他在香港《蘋果日報》刊登。沒有人邀請過我作演講，可是李怡消息異常靈通。經他這麼一說，為了避免臨場給殺個措手不及，我還是準備了一篇簡短的演詞。

不過聚會上很多人上台講話，演詞有長有短，楊健利先生好意將我放到最後。輪到我說話時已經很晚了，會場只剩下小貓三數隻，大部分記者更早已離場。那個氣氛不適合作演講，故此我只上台說了兩三句說話算是應付過去了。

之後，心中有股不吐不快的鬱悶，沒有機會講出心中要說的話，有點可惜。既然如此，不如將那篇講詞放在這裡，好抒發抑鬱心底下的悶氣。希望讀者不要介意，尤其這是篇英文講稿：

In this room we are honored to have many distinguished guests and leaders. Yet the most distinguished man of all is not here- because he sits in a Chinese jail cell. This man is Liu Xiaobo.

Tomorrow the Nobel committee will award him the world's highest prize for peace. Tonight I would like to speak about what this award says about Mr. Liu- as well as about the homeland whose future he loves so much he is willing to endure prison for it. For with this year's peace prize, the world sends an important message- to China… to Mr. Liu… and to those who must continue his good work.

The message this prize sends to China is this: The world sees your strength and promise, but it also sees your weakness. China has achieved its dreams of being an economic and military superpower. In this hopeful new century, no colonial power has control over Chinese soil.

At the same time, the world also sees that China has yet to create a state worthy of its people. Human rights are not respected... political freedom does not exist... and those who seek to change this for the better are called"criminals."

With this Nobel peace prize, the world reminds China that she will never gain the respect she wants abroad until she earns the trust of her people at home. The first test of a nation's greatness is how she treats her own citizens. This prize points to that better day over the horizon, when China takes her rightful place in the ranks of free nations.

The message this prize sends to Mr. Liu is this: You are not alone.

In the stillness of your cell, you may be isolated. You may be deprived of news. You may be treated like the criminal the government says you are.

But even your jailers know your voice cannot be contained in China. Your call for a moral and political order that respects the freedom and dignity of every human being echoes across our world.

With your witness, you have given the lie to the idea that the Chinese people are different- outside the fundamental human liberties that belong to all men and all women of all nations at all times. And you have inspired others in jail cells in Burma, Vietnam, the Sudan- and every other nation that rejects freedom for its people.

Some leaders, including President Obama, have called for your immediate release from jail. Every man and woman in this room joins that call.

This prize, however, reminds us that this is not enough. It is not enough to release a man or woman unjustly prisoned into a society that is itself a larger form of prison. We work for the day when those now called criminals for advocating for human rights walk freely in a free and confident Chinese society.

Finally, this prize sends a message to all Liu Xiaobo's friends and allies. By his work, Mr. Liu has taken moral responsibility for his nation's free future. We who claim to be his friends can do no less. We must do so, even in the face of threats, imprisonment, or death.

In taking this responsibility, Liu Xiaobo has shunned violence. He has sought only to reform and make stronger, not to tear down. We follow his example of peace.

Our goal is not to topple China's regime. Our goal is to repair and restore the crumbled moral foundation on which it rests. This is the tireless work of years and decades. It requires patience in the face of trial... it requires peace in response to provocation... it requires moral audacity in response to the temptation to accept a comfortable status quo.

Ladies and gentlemen, that is the work begun by Liu Xiaobo, the work that begins anew this evening. And when the Nobel committee honors him tomorrow with its peace prize, I tell you this: all across this world, the friends of liberty will say: Truly the Chinese people have stood up.

Thank you for listening.

(黎智英)