Updated

The Dalai Lama has asked China to release imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo who has been awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Tibetan spiritual leader says the peace prize is the international community's recognition of increasing voices within China for reform.

The exiled Dalai Lama also urged China's government in a statement Friday to free others "imprisoned for exercising their freedom of expression."

Liu was sentenced last year to 11 years in prison on subversion charges after he co-authored a document calling for greater freedom, among other activism.

The Dalai Lama was awarded the 1989 peace prize and China vilifies him as a traitor for seeking more autonomy for Tibet.