BEIJING (AFP) - China's foreign ministry on Friday offered no immediate reaction to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo, saying only it had "taken note" of the question.

A female official at the ministry who asked not to be named declined further comment on the news from Oslo.

Liu, 54, was honoured for his "long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China", Norwegian Nobel Committee president Thorbjoern Jagland said.

The writer, who was previously jailed for his involvement in the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests, was sentenced in December to 11 more years in prison for subversion -- a punishment that earned international condemnation.

Liu was arrested in late 2008 after co-writing Charter 08, a widely circulated petition that called for political reform in the Communist-ruled nation.