Supporters mourn Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo with pictures of an empty chair next to the sea.
A social media movement – styled as a “global memorial” – has been launched to mourn and commemorate the loss of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Chinese democracy activist Liu Xiaobo.
On Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, supporters are posting pictures of an empty chair next to the sea with the hashtag #withliuxiaobo.
At 17: 35 Beijing time (09: 35 GMT) on Wednesday, and even shortly beforehand, people around the world began posting the photos of a single chair placed by the sea.
One person whose Instagram account name is Chi_Yuen_Lam posted what looked like an antique chair on a seashore with the words, “Salute to the true hero #withliuxiaobo”
Another called submarine_vintage posted on Instagram a picture of a small plastic toy chair with plastic flowers, next to what appeared to be a Hong Kong harbour.
Others shared pictures of themselves raising three fingers to symbolise resistance, freedom and hope.
Some people posted from mainland China – despite the risks of arrest. A man who placed flowers and candles shaped like a heart by the sea and posted a video online has been detained for questioning, said the organiser of the social media campaign to commemorate Liu – the Freedom for Liu Xiaobo Action Group.
The empty chair theme is modelled after the chair left vacant for Liu by the Nobel Committee in 2010 when it awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China”.
Liu was imprisoned at the time and was not allowed to attend the awards ceremony in Oslo, Norway.
The campaign is aimed at showing that the world will not forget Liu, even though the Chinese government wishes it would.
