GONE SILENT

As China's human-rights activists prepare for their moment on the world stage, they have gone noticeably silent at home. On Dec. 3, the Norwegian Nobel Committee will honor Liu Xiaobo, the winner of this year's Peace Prize, for his work promoting human rights in China. But Liu will almost certainly remain locked away in northeastern China. And his wife Liu Xia, who was his chief representative outside the prison's walls, is now under house arrest. After her husband's award was announced on Oct. 8, she was initially able to take a few phone calls and communicate via e-mail and Twitter. But those channels have now gone silent. continue