Post by Mlle Antéchrist on Dec 8, 2010 3:36:00 GMT -5
news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101208/wl_nm/us_china_nobel_confucius
Further backlash from China's diplomats: www.vancouversun.com/news/humility+Beijing+rolls+sleeves/3943423/story.html
Click links to read full articles.
The whole "Confucius Peace Prize" thing is a ridiculous waste of money and resources on the part of the Chinese government. It's the kind of thing I'd expect from North Korea (except they'd have the "Kim Il-Sung Peace Prize"), what with the hasty move to have their own ceremony before the Nobel Prize is given out. And threatening trade relations over this is just plain stupid. Boycott the ceremony and express your dissatisfaction, don't throw a hissy fit over it.
One does wonder if this will lead to backlash against Liu and his family, though. I really hope they won't respond by extending his prison sentence or persecuting his wife.
BEIJING (Reuters) – China will award its answer to the Nobel Peace Prize a day before it is bestowed upon jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, giving the "Confucius Peace Prize" to former Taiwan vice-president Lien Chan.
China was furious after Liu won the Nobel Peace Prize in October, saying it was an "obscenity" that it was given to a man it considers a subversive and a criminal.
The newly created Confucius prize, named after the ancient Chinese philosopher the Communist Party has recently co-opted as its own, was suggested in an opinion piece in the popular tabloid the Global Times three weeks ago.
"It is a kind of peaceful response to the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize and ... explains the Chinese people's views of peace," organizers said in an emailed statement Wednesday.
The award ceremony will take place in Beijing Thursday, the day before Liu is formally awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. Neither he nor his wife have been allowed by the Chinese government to go to Oslo. Liu's wife has been put under house arrest.
Taiwan's Lien won out over five other nominees: Nobel Peace Prize winners Mahmoud Abbas and Nelson Mandela, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Chinese poet Qiao Damo and the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's second-most important figure.
China was furious after Liu won the Nobel Peace Prize in October, saying it was an "obscenity" that it was given to a man it considers a subversive and a criminal.
The newly created Confucius prize, named after the ancient Chinese philosopher the Communist Party has recently co-opted as its own, was suggested in an opinion piece in the popular tabloid the Global Times three weeks ago.
"It is a kind of peaceful response to the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize and ... explains the Chinese people's views of peace," organizers said in an emailed statement Wednesday.
The award ceremony will take place in Beijing Thursday, the day before Liu is formally awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. Neither he nor his wife have been allowed by the Chinese government to go to Oslo. Liu's wife has been put under house arrest.
Taiwan's Lien won out over five other nominees: Nobel Peace Prize winners Mahmoud Abbas and Nelson Mandela, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Chinese poet Qiao Damo and the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's second-most important figure.
Further backlash from China's diplomats: www.vancouversun.com/news/humility+Beijing+rolls+sleeves/3943423/story.html
China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu abandoned any pretence of diplomatic etiquette on Tuesday and denounced backers of imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo as "clowns."
And Jiang also thrust her razor-sharp tongue at the Norwegian Nobel committee which, she said, is "orchestrating an anti-China farce."
Jiang's unusually acid language is in keeping with the fierce campaign Beijing has waged to try to stop countries sending representatives to the Nobel Prize ceremony in Oslo scheduled for Friday.
Beijing has warned of trade and other reprisals against countries that take part in the honouring of Liu, who is serving an 11-year prison sentence for advocating changes to China's one-party communist political system.
And Jiang also thrust her razor-sharp tongue at the Norwegian Nobel committee which, she said, is "orchestrating an anti-China farce."
Jiang's unusually acid language is in keeping with the fierce campaign Beijing has waged to try to stop countries sending representatives to the Nobel Prize ceremony in Oslo scheduled for Friday.
Beijing has warned of trade and other reprisals against countries that take part in the honouring of Liu, who is serving an 11-year prison sentence for advocating changes to China's one-party communist political system.
Click links to read full articles.
The whole "Confucius Peace Prize" thing is a ridiculous waste of money and resources on the part of the Chinese government. It's the kind of thing I'd expect from North Korea (except they'd have the "Kim Il-Sung Peace Prize"), what with the hasty move to have their own ceremony before the Nobel Prize is given out. And threatening trade relations over this is just plain stupid. Boycott the ceremony and express your dissatisfaction, don't throw a hissy fit over it.
One does wonder if this will lead to backlash against Liu and his family, though. I really hope they won't respond by extending his prison sentence or persecuting his wife.