Beijing, Jul 21 (IANS): A Chinese daily on Friday called for the scrapping of the Nobel Peace Prize, saying it had become "increasingly political".

"The Nobel Peace Prize has shown increasing preference for those that embrace Western values and has become increasingly political. Of prize winners in the past century, the majority are from Western Europe or North America" the Global Times said in a commentary.

The commentary came a week after Chinese Nobel laureate and political dissident Liu Xiaobo died of liver cancer on July 13.

He was arrested in 2008 and sentenced in December 2009 to 11 years in prison on subversion charges after co-drafting a political manifesto calling for democratic reforms in China.

Liu won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 for his activism.

"Right after Liu was awarded the peace prize, a piece in the Guardian questioned his qualification for the prize 'because he is a champion of war, not peace'. But this was overlooked by the West, intentionally, because what matters is his pro-colonialism and subversion attempt of China which caters to Westerners," the commentary said.

It said the Nobel Peace Prize committee had made numerous controversial decisions in the past including awarding it to the Dalai Lama, who has "long engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the guise of religion".

"Since the peace prize has deviated from its original intent and turns to represent just Western values, it's time to just cancel the prize altogether," it said.