Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe Is Awarded the Confucius Peace Prize
By Edward Wong and Vanessa Piao

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has crushed political opponents in his country, overseeing the beating, intimidation and deaths of democratic challengers and their supporters. He has presided over economic policies that have resulted in rampant inflation and poverty. Widely condemned by Western governments, he is considered one of the most uncompromising dictators in Africa.

Now he can claim the honor of being awarded a Confucius Peace Prize, the Chinese answer to the Nobel Peace Prize.

A group based in Hong Kong that says it is the official organizer of the prize, which was first awarded in 2010, has selected Mr. Mugabe as this year’s recipient. Among the finalists for the award were United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, President Park Geun-Hye of South Korea and Bill Gates.

The Confucius Peace Prize was first established in late 2010 as a rejoinder to the Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded that year to Liu Xiaobo, a dissident Chinese writer who is serving a 11-year prison sentence on a charge of subversion. His wife, Liu Xia, is under house arrest.

The Confucius Peace Prize ceremony is scheduled to be held in December. Organizers say the official Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing will be the venue if Mr. Mugabe, 91, agrees to attend. The prize comes with a financial reward of 500,000 renminbi, or nearly $80,000.

“The 21st-century interpretation of Confucianism is ‘universal harmony in the world,’ ” said Qiao Wei, a poet and the president of the judging committee of the peace prize, in a telephone interview on Thursday. “Mugabe is the founding leader of Zimbabwe and has been trying to stabilize the country’s political and economic order ever since the country was first founded. He brought benefit to the people of Zimbabwe.”

Mr. Mugabe had his start in politics as a pan-Africa nationalist who opposed minority white rule in the former British colony and country then known as Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe was called at the time. The Rhodesian government used brutal tactics to try to suppress nationalist movements, and Mr. Mugabe was imprisoned for more than 10 years, but the country reached a peace agreement and established sovereignty in 1980.

Mr. Mugabe became prime minister and quickly set up an authoritarian system, including managing security forces that on occasion acted as death squads.

“As the president of Zimbabwe or the chairman of the African Union, he has always been pushing forward the cause of peace in Africa,” Mr. Qiao said. “He has been working hard even in his 90s. This shows he has ideals in his heart. He has been trying to support the independence of Africa. He has his ‘African Dream.’ ”

Mr. Qiao noted that the Confucius Peace Prize committee and the Nobel committee had both looked to Africa for candidates this year. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded this month to the National Dialogue Quartet of Tunisia, a grass-roots pro-democracy group.

Critics in Zimbabwe and elsewhere were swift to condemn the honor.

Mr. Qiao said he did not blame Mr. Mugabe for the soaring inflation that has crippled Zimbabwe’s economy.

“Zimbabwe is a relatively small country in southern Africa,” he said. “It’s normal for the country to experience economic downturns for several or more than a dozen years. Even in many developed countries now, the economy is not ‘running’ all the time. It also halts or even goes backward.”

Last year, the Confucius Peace Prize was awarded to Fidel Castro, the former Cuban leader. In 2011, the prize was given to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. The first recipient, in 2010, was Lien Chan, a former party chairman of the Kuomintang in Taiwan. He learned of the prize when journalists called for comment.

The prize has been mired in political battles. The founding committee had tenuous ties to the Chinese Ministry of Culture, but a split in the committee prompted the ministry to try to ban the prize in 2011. A rival group tried to award an alternative honor — the Confucius World Peace Prize — but the effort was called off.

Mr. Qiao said he registered his prize’s committee in Hong Kong, under the name China International Peace Research Center, and Beijing, under the name Beijing Heweigui Culture Media Company, to keep the award going after the ministry tried to quash it in 2011.

瘋了？ 孔子和平獎頒非洲獨裁者

由中國民間組織創辦的「孔子和平獎」，今年頒給辛巴威總統、被視為獨裁者的穆加比，引發國際輿論非議，辛巴威反對派和人權活動者怒批並稱感到「極度惡心」；中國外交部發言人華春瑩稱該獎與政府無關。消息一出，網友譁然，微博一面倒的批評，包括「此獎太有中國特色」、「垃圾獎給垃圾」，以及「饒了孔子吧，死了3000年還躺槍」。

美國紐約時報報導，主辦方預定12月舉行頒獎典禮，如果穆加比願意出席，「典禮將在北京的官方釣魚台國賓館內舉行」。

據報導，孔子和平獎2010年創辦後，第一座頒給中國國民黨前主席連戰，不過連戰並未出席領獎。其後還曾頒給俄羅斯總統普亭、古巴前領導人卡斯楚，但他們也未出席領獎。

第六屆孔子和平獎評選結果於9月28日揭曉，評選委員會提出的理由是：高齡91歲的穆加比自1980年就任辛巴威總統以來，「始終致力於構建國家政治經濟秩序，造福辛巴威人民，並大力支持泛非主義和非洲獨立。」

辛巴威反對派領導人在當地網站指中國此舉「簡直是瘋了」，指穆加比是「戰爭販子和以人民痛苦為樂的虐待狂」。他在位35年，國家經濟崩潰，饑荒嚴重，並被指策畫大屠殺，殺人數萬，據指他今年91歲生日宴竟煮一頭象吃。但這位遭西方制裁的獨裁者卻是中共好友，「九三」北京大閱兵座上賓。穆加比與香港也有淵源，2009年其大埔豪宅曝光，妻及保安先後毆打西方記者，其女2011年畢業於城大工商管理系。

網友則是一面倒的批評，包括：穆加比發動大屠殺；穆加比上台前，辛巴威人均壽命61歲，現在男性只剩37歲、女性34歲；辛巴威元從1比1.5美元，到今年已是35000兆元兌1美元。

公開資料顯示，孔子和平獎原由「中國鄉土藝術協會」於2010年創辦，但中國文化部2011年禁止獎項續頒後，由在香港註冊的「中國國際和平研究中心」接辦。文化部向來否認孔子和平獎具有官方色彩。

原文參照：
http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/22/mugabe-zimbabwe-confucius-peace-prize/

紐約時報中文版翻譯
http://cn.nytimes.com/world/20151023/c23sino-confuciusprize/zh-hant/

2015-10-25 世界日報 中國新聞組