A bipartisan group in Washington wrote a letter petitioning Washington Mayor Vincent Gray to rename a street in Washington D.C. - where the Chinese Embassy sits - after human rights activist Liu Xiaobo, sparking outrage on the part of the China Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reports state.

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The group of 13 House members which include Republican Frank Wolf and Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, submitted the request in an attempt to draw international attention to human rights violations in China just ahead of the nation's 25^th anniversary of the Tiananment Square massacre.

Liu Xiaobo is a controversial figure in China and founded the Charter 08 campaign in 2008.  The Charter 08 manifesto was originally signed by over 350 Chinese intellectuals and human rights activists and called on China's government to implement major changes, including eliminating the one-party rule.

Liu Xiaobo, who was arrested and found guilty of subversion, received an 11-year prison sentence in 2009.

The activist was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 and is currently the only incarcerated individual to have received the honor.

China Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Qin Gang responded to the petition by stating that Liu Xiaobo had violated Chinese laws and was convicted according to the legal accordance of the country.

The move has historical precedence and seems to be a tactic straight out of the Cold War era as the US changed the name of the street in front of the Soviet Union embassy in Washington to Andrei Sakharov Plaza in protest over the treatment of Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov in the 1980s.

Some fear, however, that the DC proposal may trigger yet another retaliatory response from Beijing, which they say might consider renaming the street where the US Embassy is located to one that honors NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

TagsLiu Xiaobo, Embassy, Washington DC