Confucius Peace Prize
Encyclopedia
The Confucius Peace Prize is a prize of the People's Republic of China
(PRC) established in 2010 in response to a proposal by business person Liu Zhiqin on November 17, 2010, although members of the award committee said the prize had been around much longer. The chairman of the committee said that the award existed to "promote world peace from an Eastern perspective", and Confucian
peace specifically. The winner receives a cash prize of ¥100,000 RMB ($15,000 USD). Despite an announcement in September 2011 from the Chinese Ministry of Culture
that the prize would no longer be awarded, the China International Peace Research Center awarded the prize to Vladimir Putin
in November 2011.
, Liu Zhiqin, a Chinese banker, was the first to propose the prize in an editorial in the Global Times
. The Traditional Culture Protection Department, a subsection of the Association of Chinese Indigenous Arts, which is registered with the Chinese Culutre Ministry delivered the first prize to Taiwanese politican Lien Chan
in December 2010. Mr. Lien never claimed the prize. China's Minister of Culture talked to the United Daily News
in Taipei
and stated they had never heard of this prize for Lien Chan until there was newspaper coverage. The Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao
reported that the letter issued by the committee to Lien Chan did not have the Ministry of Culture's official seal.
had won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize
two months earlier and that award ceremony was held on December 10; the awarding of the prize to Liu was viewed negatively in China, with some in the government arguing that Liu did not promote "international friendship, disarmament, and peace meetings", the stated goal of the Nobel Peace Prize.
stated that it would be disbanding the organisers of Confucius Peace Prize and cancelling the prize. The Ministry cited a news conference on September 17 that had not been approved, and the improper used of the ministry's name. The Chinese Folk Art Association was quick to blame a "rogue department" for the debacle surrounding the award.
Despite the cancellation, on November 15, 2011, The Guardian
reported that the original organizers had formed a new committee, the China International Peace Studies Center, in Hong Kong, where they awarded the second Confucius Peace Prize to Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin
. Putin beat out Angela Merkel
, Bill Gates
, Jacob Zuma
, Kofi Annan
, Yuan Longping
, the Gyaincain Norbu (one of the Panchen Lama
s), and Soong Chu-yu for his opposition to NATO involvement in the 2011 Libyan Civil War
as well as his decision to go to war in Chechnya in 1999
. According to the committee, Putin's "Iron hand and toughness revealed in this war impressed the Russians a lot, and he was regarded to be capable of bringing safety and stability to Russia." Putin was also praised for fulfilling his childhood dream of joining the KGB
. The 2011 award, a gilded statuette of Confucius will be given out on December 9 along with a certificate, although the committee did not mention a cash prize.
of the Republic of China
and Kuomintang
Chairman Lien Chan
, for his contribution to developing positive ties between Taiwan and mainland China
. Lien Chan did not attend the award ceremony in Beijing and had not officially heard that he had won; an aide said that they had only received "secondhand information from journalists". This contradicted a statement in the Global Times
by the chairman of the Confucius Peace Prize Committee, Tan Liuchang, that Lien had been contacted by the committee. Tsai Chi-chang, a spokesperson for the opposition Democratic Progressive Party
in Taiwan, said the award should not be taken seriously. The award, consisting of a small sculpture and a bundle of 1,000 banknotes, was collected by a young girl in front of an audience of some 100 journalists.
Officials from the Taiwanese government are reported to have found the award of the Confucius Peace Prize to Lien Chan "amusing".
When asked by a reporter about the prize, a spokesman for Vladimir Putin said that he had heard about the award through the press, but that "we do not know much about the prize."
The Economist
compared the substitute award to the reaction by Nazi Germany
and the creation of the German National Prize for Art and Science
after Carl von Ossietzky
was prohibited from accepting his Nobel Prize in 1935, as well as the Soviet Union
preventing Andrei Sakharov
from accepting his Nobel Peace Prize in 1975.
The Global Times reported that the five nominees were selected based on their being the winners of an online poll. However, when asked about the details of the online vote, the organizer said they failed to carry it out because of "technical problems", The South China Morning Post reported.
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
(PRC) established in 2010 in response to a proposal by business person Liu Zhiqin on November 17, 2010, although members of the award committee said the prize had been around much longer. The chairman of the committee said that the award existed to "promote world peace from an Eastern perspective", and Confucian
Confucianism
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...
peace specifically. The winner receives a cash prize of ¥100,000 RMB ($15,000 USD). Despite an announcement in September 2011 from the Chinese Ministry of Culture
Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China
The Ministry of Culture is a ministry of the government of the People's Republic of China which is responsible for culture policy and activities in the country, including managing national museums and monuments; Astroturfing and promoting government policies; promoting and protecting the arts The...
that the prize would no longer be awarded, the China International Peace Research Center awarded the prize to Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
in November 2011.
Origins
According to The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Liu Zhiqin, a Chinese banker, was the first to propose the prize in an editorial in the Global Times
Global Times
The Global Times is a daily Chinese tabloid under the auspices of the official Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the People's Daily, focusing on international issues...
. The Traditional Culture Protection Department, a subsection of the Association of Chinese Indigenous Arts, which is registered with the Chinese Culutre Ministry delivered the first prize to Taiwanese politican Lien Chan
Lien Chan
Lien Chan is a politician in Taiwan. He was Premier of the Republic of China from 1993 to 1997, Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to 2000, and was the Chairman of the Kuomintang from 2000 to 2005...
in December 2010. Mr. Lien never claimed the prize. China's Minister of Culture talked to the United Daily News
United Daily News
The United Daily News is a newspaper published in the Republic of China in both Traditional and Simplified Chinese. It is one of the three biggest newspapers in Taiwan, the other two being the China Times and the Liberty Times.-History:...
in Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
and stated they had never heard of this prize for Lien Chan until there was newspaper coverage. The Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao
Ming Pao
Ming Pao is a Chinese language newspaper published by Ming Pao Group in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, Ming Pao established four overseas branches in North America, each provides independent reporting on local news and collect local advertisements. Currently, only the two Canadian editions remain: Ming...
reported that the letter issued by the committee to Lien Chan did not have the Ministry of Culture's official seal.
2010 Nobel peace prize
Dissident Liu XiaoboLiu Xiaobo
Liu Xiaobo is a Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights activist who called for political reforms and the end of communist single-party rule in China...
had won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize
2010 Nobel Peace Prize
The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to imprisoned Chinese human rights activist "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China"...
two months earlier and that award ceremony was held on December 10; the awarding of the prize to Liu was viewed negatively in China, with some in the government arguing that Liu did not promote "international friendship, disarmament, and peace meetings", the stated goal of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Purported cancellation and second award
In September 2011, the Ministry of CultureMinistry of Culture of the People's Republic of China
The Ministry of Culture is a ministry of the government of the People's Republic of China which is responsible for culture policy and activities in the country, including managing national museums and monuments; Astroturfing and promoting government policies; promoting and protecting the arts The...
stated that it would be disbanding the organisers of Confucius Peace Prize and cancelling the prize. The Ministry cited a news conference on September 17 that had not been approved, and the improper used of the ministry's name. The Chinese Folk Art Association was quick to blame a "rogue department" for the debacle surrounding the award.
Despite the cancellation, on November 15, 2011, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
reported that the original organizers had formed a new committee, the China International Peace Studies Center, in Hong Kong, where they awarded the second Confucius Peace Prize to Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
. Putin beat out Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
, Bill Gates
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
, Jacob Zuma
Jacob Zuma
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is the President of South Africa, elected by parliament following his party's victory in the 2009 general election....
, Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
, Yuan Longping
Yuan Longping
Yuan Longping is a Chinese agricultural scientist and educator, known for developing the first hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s. His "hybrid rice" has since been grown in dozens of countries in Africa, America, and Asia—providing a robust food source in high famine risk areas. He is called "The...
, the Gyaincain Norbu (one of the Panchen Lama
Panchen Lama
The Panchen Lama , or Bainqên Erdê'ni , is the highest ranking Lama after the Dalai Lama in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism...
s), and Soong Chu-yu for his opposition to NATO involvement in the 2011 Libyan Civil War
2011 Libyan civil war
The 2011 Libyan civil war was an armed conflict in the North African state of Libya, fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government. The war was preceded by protests in Benghazi beginning on 15 February 2011, which led to clashes with security...
as well as his decision to go to war in Chechnya in 1999
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
. According to the committee, Putin's "Iron hand and toughness revealed in this war impressed the Russians a lot, and he was regarded to be capable of bringing safety and stability to Russia." Putin was also praised for fulfilling his childhood dream of joining the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
. The 2011 award, a gilded statuette of Confucius will be given out on December 9 along with a certificate, although the committee did not mention a cash prize.
Response to Confucius Peace Prize
The Confucius Peace Prize's first winner was former Vice PresidentVice President of the Republic of China
The Vice President of the Republic of China is the second-highest executive official of the Republic of China . The existing office was created in 1948 under the 1947 Constitution of the Republic of China...
of the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
and Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
Chairman Lien Chan
Lien Chan
Lien Chan is a politician in Taiwan. He was Premier of the Republic of China from 1993 to 1997, Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to 2000, and was the Chairman of the Kuomintang from 2000 to 2005...
, for his contribution to developing positive ties between Taiwan and mainland China
Cross-Strait relations
Cross-Strait relations refers to the relations between People's Republic of China and the Republic of China , which lie to the west and east, repectively, of the Taiwan Strait in the west Pacific Ocean....
. Lien Chan did not attend the award ceremony in Beijing and had not officially heard that he had won; an aide said that they had only received "secondhand information from journalists". This contradicted a statement in the Global Times
Global Times
The Global Times is a daily Chinese tabloid under the auspices of the official Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the People's Daily, focusing on international issues...
by the chairman of the Confucius Peace Prize Committee, Tan Liuchang, that Lien had been contacted by the committee. Tsai Chi-chang, a spokesperson for the opposition Democratic Progressive Party
Democratic Progressive Party
The Democratic Progressive Party is a political party in Taiwan, and the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition. Founded in 1986, DPP is the first meaningful opposition party in Taiwan. It has traditionally been associated with strong advocacy of human rights and a distinct Taiwanese identity,...
in Taiwan, said the award should not be taken seriously. The award, consisting of a small sculpture and a bundle of 1,000 banknotes, was collected by a young girl in front of an audience of some 100 journalists.
Officials from the Taiwanese government are reported to have found the award of the Confucius Peace Prize to Lien Chan "amusing".
When asked by a reporter about the prize, a spokesman for Vladimir Putin said that he had heard about the award through the press, but that "we do not know much about the prize."
The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
compared the substitute award to the reaction by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and the creation of the German National Prize for Art and Science
German National Prize for Art and Science
The German National Prize for Art and Science was an award created by Adolf Hitler in 1937 as a replacement for the Nobel Prize . The award was designed by Müller-Erfurt and created in the form of a pendant studded with diamonds...
after Carl von Ossietzky
Carl von Ossietzky
Carl von Ossietzky was a German pacifist and the recipient of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize. He was convicted of high treason and espionage in 1931 after publishing details of Germany's alleged violation of the Treaty of Versailles by rebuilding an air force, the predecessor of the Luftwaffe, and...
was prohibited from accepting his Nobel Prize in 1935, as well as the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
preventing Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov was a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist. He earned renown as the designer of the Soviet Union's Third Idea, a codename for Soviet development of thermonuclear weapons. Sakharov was an advocate of civil liberties and civil reforms in the...
from accepting his Nobel Peace Prize in 1975.
The Global Times reported that the five nominees were selected based on their being the winners of an online poll. However, when asked about the details of the online vote, the organizer said they failed to carry it out because of "technical problems", The South China Morning Post reported.