Confucius Peace Prize

Confucius Peace Prize
Awarded for Promotion of world peace from an Eastern, Confucian perspective; to declare China's view on peace and human rights to the world[1]
Date December 9, 2010
Country People's Republic of China
Presented by Private committee
Reward US$15,000
First awarded 2010
Currently held by Yi Cheng
Confucius Peace Prize
Traditional Chinese 孔子和平獎
Simplified Chinese 孔子和平奖

The Confucius Peace Prize (simplified Chinese: 孔子和平奖; traditional Chinese: 孔子和平獎; pinyin: Kǒngzǐ Hépíngjiǎng) is a prize established in 2010 in the People's Republic of China (PRC) in response to a proposal by business person Liu Zhiqin on November 17, 2010. The chairman of the committee said that the award existed to "promote world peace from an Eastern perspective", and Confucian peace specifically.[1] The winner receives a cash prize of ¥100,000 RMB (US$15,000).[2] Despite an announcement in September 2011 that the prize would no longer be awarded, the China International Peace Research Center awarded the prize to Vladimir Putin in November 2011[3][4][5][6] and to Kofi Annan and Yuan Longping in 2012.[7]

Origins

The Confucius Peace Prize originated as a response to the announcement that Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo had won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize;[8] 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 goals of the Nobel Peace Prize.[9]

According to The New York Times, Liu Zhiqin, a Chinese banker, was the first to propose the prize in a commentary in the Global Times.[10] Liu's commentary stated, "The Nobel Peace Prize Committee won Liu Xiaobo while losing the trust of 1.3 billion Chinese people. They support a criminal while creating 1.3 billion 'dissidents' that are dissatisfied with the Nobel Committee, which is definitely a bad decision. ... China's civil society should consider setting up a 'Confucius Peace Prize,' launching the evaluation and selection and finding the real Peace Prize winners from all over the world. This is the best opportunity for the Chinese to declare China's view in peace and human rights to the world."[11]

The Association of Chinese Indigenous Arts, which is registered with the Chinese Cultural Ministry. awarded the first prize to Taiwanese politician Lien Chan in December 2010.[6] Lien never claimed the prize.[12] 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.[13] 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.[13]

Purported cancellation and second award

In September 2011, the Ministry of Culture stated that it would be disbanding the organizers of Confucius Peace Prize and cancelling the prize.[3] The Ministry stated in a news conference on September 17 that there was improper uses of the Ministry's name.[6] The Chinese Folk Art Association was quick to blame a "rogue department" for the debacle surrounding the award.[4]

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. Other contenders were Angela Merkel, Bill Gates, Jacob Zuma, Kofi Annan, Yuan Longping, Gyaincain Norbu (one of the Panchen Lamas), and Soong Chu-yu. Putin won for his opposition to NATO involvement in the Libyan Civil War as well as his decision to go to war in Chechnya in 1999.[14] 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 was given out on December 9 along with a certificate, although the committee did not mention a cash prize.[6] The award ceremony featured a speech by Kong Qingdong. Kong claimed that the award accurately reflects Confucius’s original vision of peace.[15]

Later history, 2012–present

The shortlist for the 2012 award consisted of previous nominees Kofi Annan, Bill Gates, agricultural scientist Yuan Longping, and Gyancain Norbu, as well as Ban Ki-moon, Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Chinese philosopher Tang Yijie, and Wang Dingguo, the last surviving female participant in Mao Zedong's Long March.[16] Due to a tie in the voting, the committee announced that Kofi Annan and Yuan Longping would share the award.[7] Zen master Yi Cheng was awarded the 2013 prize for his work as chairman of the Buddhist Association of China and his contribution for Chinese Buddhism.

As an addition to the Peace Prize in 2013 the first Confucius Art Prize was awarded. A gold medal was for calligrapher Ouyang Zhongshi and silver medals for Yang Lin and Hou Mingming.[17]

Response to Confucius Peace Prize

The Confucius Peace Prize's first winner was former Vice President of the Republic of China and Kuomintang Chairman Lien Chan, for his contribution to developing positive ties between Taiwan and mainland China.[18] Lien Chan did not attend the award ceremony in Beijing[1][8] and had not officially heard that he had won; an aide said that they had only received "secondhand information from journalists".[10] 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.[19] Tsai Chi-chang, a spokesperson for the opposition Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan, said the award should not be taken seriously.[12] 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".[8] 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."[6]

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.[20] National Review likewise compared the prize to Hitler's and Stalin's responses to the Nobel Peace Prize.[21]

The Global Times reported that the five 2011 nominees were selected based on their being the winners of an online poll.[19] 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.[22]

The 2014 recipient of the prize was Fidel Castro, stating that "When Castro was the leader of Cuba, he never used any violence or force when faced with problems and conflicts in international relations, especially in Cuba's relationship with the United States."[23][24]

Winners

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Jiang, Steven (2010-12-08). "China to hand out its own peace prize". CNN. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
  2. ↑ "Confucius Peace Prize: China To Award Nobel Rival". Huffington Post. 8 December 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 关于停止中国乡土艺术协会传统文化保护部主办"第二届孔子和平奖"颁奖活动和撤销中国乡土艺术协会传统文化保护部的决定 (in Chinese). Chinese Ministary of Culture. September 27, 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-10-27. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Moore, Malcolm (September 29, 2011). "Confusion as Confucius Prize scrapped". The Telegraph. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Ministry of Culture disbands organisers of Confucius Peace Prize". Shanghaiist. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "In China, Confucius Prize Awarded to Putin". New York Times. November 15, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Li, Raymond (2012-11-06). "Annan, agriculture scientist win Confucius Peace Prize". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Martina, Michael (9 December 2010). "China stood up by winner of "Confucius peace prize"". Reuters. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  9. ↑ Garnaut, John (9 October 2010). "China furious at Nobel's 'violation'". The Age (Australia: Fairfax Media). Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Wong, Edward (2010-12-08). "China’s Answer to Nobel Mystifies Its Winner". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
  11. ↑ Liu Zhiqin (2010-11-17). "Confucius Prize could be weapon in battle of ideas". Global Times. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Mo Yan-chih (2010-12-09). "Lien office denies hearing of award". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "中國否認頒「孔子和平獎」" [China denies awarding "Confucius Peace Prize"]. Ming Pao. 2010-12-09. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  14. ↑ "Vladimir Putin in China Confucius Peace Prize fiasco". BBC. 2011-11-15. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  15. ↑ Zhang, Nan (9 December 2011). "孔子和平奖二次颁发 获奖者再度缺席". Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  16. ↑ Boehler, Patrick (2012-09-11). "China’s Confucius Prize Announces Its Wacky 2012 Short List". Time. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  17. ↑
  18. ↑ Tran, Tini (2010-12-07). "China to award prize to rival Nobel". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Liu, Linlin (9 December 2010). "NGO creates 'Peace Prize'". The Global Times. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  20. ↑ "The empty chair". Economist.com. 12 December 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  21. ↑ Jay Nordlinger (8 December 2010). "The Corner: Like the Nazis and the Soviets ...". National Review Online.
  22. ↑ "Confusion Prize brings Beijing doubtful reward". South China Morning Post. December 9, 2010. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
  23. ↑ Edward Wong (11 December 2014). "China's Defiant Choice for Its Peace Prize: Castro". The New York Times.
  24. ↑ Jay Nordlinger (11 December 2014). "The Corner: Fidel Castro's Perfect Peace Prize". National Review Online.

External links

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