Nineteen countries will shun Friday’s Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo for jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Institute said, following Chinese pressure for a global boycott.

“You only have to look at the figures. The vast majority of countries invited will be represented,” Nobel Institute director Geir Lundestad said yesterday.

According to the Nobel Institute, 44 embassies have accepted invitations to the event while 19 have refused “for various reasons” and two have not replied.

Besides China, the countries that have declined to attend the ceremony in the Oslo city hall are: Afghanistan Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sudan, Tunisia, Ukraine, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Algeria and Sri Lanka had not yet responded to their invitations by the end of the day on Monday.

The Nobel Institute traditionally invites all ambassadors posted in Oslo to the Nobel prize ceremony.

Rights group Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director Sam Zairi meanwhile accused China of “bullying” countries into submission.

“China has been arm-twisting behind the scenes to stop governments from attending the Nobel Prize ceremony, using a combination of political pressure and economic blackmail,” he said in a statement.

“The fact that, despite the pressure and threats, the Chinese could only cajole a small minority of countries, reflects the unacceptable nature of their demands,” he said, insisting “governments and international institutions must continue to resist this type of bullying”.