The Confucius Peace Prize () was a Chinese alternative to the Nobel Peace Prize established in 2010 by the Association of Chinese Indigenous Arts in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The prize was created in response to a proposal by businessman Liu Zhiqin that criticized the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. The chairman of the committee said that the award existed to "promote world peace from an Eastern perspective", and Confucian peace specifically. The original cash prize given to the winner in 2010 was ¥100,000 RMB (US$15,000).
Despite an attempt by China's Ministry of Culture to ban the prize in September 2011, the original organizers re-established in Hong Kong as the "China International Peace Research Center", awarding the prize to Vladimir Putin in November 2011, to Kofi Annan and Yuan Longping in 2012, to Fidel Castro in 2014, to Robert Mugabe in 2015, and Hun Sen in 2017. The Chinese government has denied having any connections with the prize. The Prize Committee has been disbanded since 2018.
Origins and first award
The Confucius Peace Prize originated as a response to the announcement that Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo had won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize; 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. Competing groups staked claims to its founding, and some have links to the Ministry of Culture.
According to The New York Times, Liu Zhiqin, a prominent Chinese scholar and banker, was the first to propose the prize, in a commentary in the Chinese Communist Party-owned tabloid Global Times. 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."
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, for his contribution to developing positive ties between Taiwan and mainland China. 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. The award, consisting of a small sculpture and a bundle of banknotes, was collected by a young girl in front of an audience of some 100 journalists. In the jostling, one group tried to create the "Confucius World Peace Prize" to rival the "Confucius Peace Prize".
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. The Ministry stated in a news conference on September 17 that there were improper uses of the Ministry's name. The Association of Chinese Indigenous Arts was quick to blame a "rogue department" for the debacle surrounding the award.