Woah, let's take a minute and let that sink in: The Chinese dissident famous for conceiving Charter '08 and who has been under arrest since Summer 2009 has now been named the Nobel Peace Prize winner of 2010. The Chinese government must be livid.

In fact they are - Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu released the following statement just minutes after the award was announced: 'The Nobel Peace Prize should be awarded to those who work to promote ethnic harmony, international friendship, disarmament and who hold peace meetings. These were (Alfred) Nobel's wishes...

Liu... was found guilty of violating Chinese law and sentenced to prison by Chinese judicial organs... His actions run contrary to the purpose of the Nobel Peace Prize. By awarding the prize to this person, the Nobel committee has violated and blasphemed the award."

Of course, not everybody shared that viewpoint. Liu Xiaobo's wife Liu Xia, who had previously been ">cautiously pessimistic about her husband's chances was unsurprisingly ecstatic. From CNN:

"I am totally shocked and feel so happy," she said. "I've never dreamed about this. Friends have asked me to prepare for a speech, but I've only prepared one for Xiaobo not winning the prize."

Liu Xia said she regretted her husband couldn't share the moment with her. She said he will feel "surprised and humbled" to find out, but also feel "a greater sense of responsibilities" because of the great honor.

"It's an affirmation of what he has fought for," she said.

So what exactly did he win for? According to the Nobel Committee, it was "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China." His page on the Nobel Prize website currently features congratulations from fans all over the world. Our favorite message "Save Liu Xiaobo, Save China."

More from around the web

• Reuters has a fact box listing all the reactions Liu's win has garnered.
• The Guardian compares Liu's win to previous Nobel Peace Prize winners.
• CNN documents the non-reaction to Liu's peace prize... though I guess they wrote the article before 7:08am EST. Come on now, CNN, give the Chinese government SOME time to come up with an appropriately blustery response!
• Sify takes time to point out that Liu Xiaobo probably isn't even aware he won the prize, you know, with him being in jail and all. Way to be a downer.
• From twitter: @KaiserKuo: Beijing really should have learned from backfired pressure tactics at Melbourne film & Frankfurt book festivals what the result would be. 活该... and @ChinaGeeks: Netizen meetups to celebrate Liu Xiaobo's victory are already being organized via Twitter. This is exactly what Beijing didn't want.