As the world waited for the Nobel committee to announce this year's winners last Friday, Chinese police forced their way into the home of Wang's parents and, according to Wang's mother Wang Lingyun, tried to bring her to the police station.

According to the Associated Press, police returned and took Wang Lingyun about a half-hour before the winners were announced.

The Chinese government's disapproval of the nomination has also affected Wei's family. A spokesperson for Wang in Boston told the Associated Press that Chinese police had detained Wei's brother, Wei Yaotao, although his detention could not be confirmed.

Professor of Chinese History Peter K. Bol said he believed Chinese police should not have reacted as they did, and that many Chinese would probably agree with him.

"They simply shouldn't have done it. The first thing to remember is that in China there are drastically different levels of authority, from the hard-lined to the liberal," he said. "I am not surprised by what the police did to [Wei's and Wang's] families. But I also think that there are Chinese people who thought that it was a stupid thing to do. I even think that within the Chinese government there were people who thought this was stupid."

Thomas Sze Leong Yu '00, co-president of the Harvard-Radcliffe Chinese Students Association (HRCSA), says that he is not surprised that the Chinese government responded as they did.

"This year has been a very sensitive year for China, since it marked the anniversaries of the Tiananmen incident as well as the founding of the People's Republic," he said. "Therefore, the Chinese government is highly concerned with stamping out any elements which could oppose the Party."