By MO MO
Nobel Correspondent
BEIJING (China Daily Show) – Victory for China in the Nobel Prize for literature has prompted a nervous Norway to check that “everything is good now, OK?”
After bumping into implacable Vice-Foreign Minister Fu Ying at a crowded celebration party in Beijing, Norwegian diplomat Lars Brandvold congratulated Fu, grinned sheepishly, then patted him on the arm.
“We are now cool people, yes?” Brandvold queried.
Since the announcement of the prize last Friday, ‘Mo-mania’ has allegedly swept the nation, as China basks in the glory of its first-ever acceptable Nobel.
Outside Mo’s house in the village of Gaomi, villagers posed to have pictures taken next to Mo’s favorite turnip.
But the memory of previous ‘bad’ Nobels – given to the Dalai Lama, exiled writer Gao Xingjian and jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo – still leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of many Chinese.
“Liu Xiaobo – who’s he?” asked one commuter pointedly. “Seriously, I’ve never heard of him. Who is he?”
Norway, which hosts the Peace prize, now hopes all that is a thing of the past. “There are none of the hard feelings, yes?” Brandvold carried on questioning the minister, offering an encouraging thumbs-up.
“Over the Liu Xiaobo thing, I mean,” Brandvold continued, his smile faltering. “Or perhaps I should not have mentioned that. Yes? No? It is all good. I am going to walk away now… yes.”
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