#NEWS: China blocks foreign media ahead of Nobel award

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BEIJING (AFP) - The websites of several foreign media outlets appeared to be blocked in China on Thursday on the eve of the award ceremony in Oslo honouring the 2010 Nobel peace laureate, jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo.

AFP attempts to access the websites of television networks CNN, the BBC and Norwegian public broadcaster NRK were unsuccessful, with the message "Internet Explorer cannot display the web page" appearing on the screen.

China on Thursday stepped up its criticism of the Oslo-based Nobel committee that in October chose Liu -- who was jailed in December 2009 for 11 years on subversion charges -- as this year's honoree.

"Those people at the Nobel committee have to admit they are in the minority. The Chinese people and the overwhelming majority of people in the world oppose what they do," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters.

"Any attempt to exert pressure on China... cannot succeed."

When Liu was named the peace prize winner two months ago, initial reports were blacked out on CNN, BBC and French satellite channel TV5, while the state network China Central Television did not report on the prize.

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