Norway's government will have to apologise for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo if Sino-Norwegian ties are to be repaired, the Chinese ambassador was quoted as saying.
Ambassador Tang Guoqiang said at a Chinese language competition at the Confucius Institute in Bergen that the Nobel award had made the relationship between the countries very difficult.
Marit Warncke, the managing director of the Bergen Chamber of Commerce, who was at the event on Saturday, said: 'Tang believed that Norway showed disrespect towards China and offering an apology is the right thing to do.'
And according to Dan Femoen, a member of the Hordaland county council, Tang said relations with Norway had been made difficult by the prize to Liu.
He said Tang had made a small speech to a group of about 15 people, which included teachers at the institute, politicians, business representatives and Bergen Mayor Gunnar Bakke.
'Tang said he could not think the damage could be fixed before China received an apology from the Norwegian government,' Femoen said.
'He spoke clearly and with emotion.' According to a transcript posted on the Chinese embassy website late yesterday, Tang said the Norwegian government's support of the Nobel Committee's decision had seriously hurt the relationship between the two countries.
