the award; it quoted the Pakistani Foreign Office as saying, "the politicization of the Nobel Peace Prize for the purposes of interference in the domestic affairs of states is not only contrary to the recognized principles of inter-State conduct, but also a negation of the underlying spirit conceived by the founder of the Prize." In what was described by Chinese media–watchers as a surprise because of its historical professionalism, China Youth Daily published an article containing Beijing students' expressions of anger and disbelief over the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu. The journal employed the traditional hard-liner phrase "people with ulterior motives" (别有用心的人)—directed to at least one student. It further denounced the "farcical" Nobel decision to use the award as "a tool ... in their relentless effort to undermine China and frustrate its development". The Beijing Daily published an editorial on the day of the award ceremony entitled "Why not give the peace prize to Julian Assange?". It suggested that Assange, the head of WikiLeaks, was not awarded the prize because he could not "become a tool for Western forces in attacking countries with different ideologies ... even if this tool is serving out a prison sentence for violating the law." Central government Following the announcement on 8 October 2010, Xinhua relayed the Russian state-owned news agency's denunciation of the prize. China summoned the Norwegian ambassador in Beijing "to officially share their opinion, their disagreement and their protest." A PRC foreign ministry spokesman accused politicians from "some countries" for using the award to further their own political agendas: "This is not only disrespect for China's judicial system but also puts a big question mark on their true intention." The ministry's statement, labelling the decision "a blasphemy", was carried on Chinese state television. China protested to Norway, saying that China–Norway relations had been damaged. A planned meeting in Beijing between Norwegian Fisheries Minister Lisbeth Berg-Hansen and Chinese food control authorities was cancelled at the last minute, ostensibly because their counterparts had "other engagements"; Norwegian officials said that a meeting, due to be held the same day between Berg-Hansen and the Chinese vice-minister for fisheries, had been cancelled in reaction to the award. Elsewhere, performances of a Norwegian musical starring Alexander Rybak scheduled for the following month also fell victim to the diplomatic fallout, according to the composer. In early December, Norway said its bilateral trade talks with China