Bill Gates nominated for China's Confucius Peace Prize
BEIJING (AP) - Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Thailand's prime minister and Microsoft founder Bill Gates are among those nominated for a Chinese alternative "peace prize."
Organizers of the Confucius Peace Prize announced the nominees Sunday for the accolade that last year went to Russia's Vladimir Putin for enhancing his country's status and crushing anti-government forces in Chechnya.
The China International Peace Research Center launched the prize in 2010 in an apparent attempt to counter that year's Nobel Peace Prize which went to jailed Chinese dissident writer Liu Xiaobo. He is serving an 11-year prison sentence for co-authoring an appeal for political reform.
Liu's win enraged the government and Chinese nationalists, who accused the Nobel committee of interfering in China's legal system as part of a plot to bring the nation down in disgrace.
The nominees for the 2012 prize are former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, his successor Ban Ki-moon, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Bill Gates of Seattle, Chinese social activist Wang Dingguo, Peking University Prof. Tang Yijie, Chinese rice researcher Yuan Longping, and the 11th Panchen Lama. The Panchen Lama is the second-highest Tibetan religious leader after the Dalai Lama, but most Tibetans do not accept him because he was appointed by Beijing.
The award's sponsors are professors and academics who say they are independent of the Chinese government.
The 2010 prize went to former Taiwanese Vice President Lien Chan for having "built a bridge of peace between the mainland and Taiwan."
Organizers of the Confucius Peace Prize announced the nominees Sunday for the accolade that last year went to Russia's Vladimir Putin for enhancing his country's status and crushing anti-government forces in Chechnya.
The China International Peace Research Center launched the prize in 2010 in an apparent attempt to counter that year's Nobel Peace Prize which went to jailed Chinese dissident writer Liu Xiaobo. He is serving an 11-year prison sentence for co-authoring an appeal for political reform.
Liu's win enraged the government and Chinese nationalists, who accused the Nobel committee of interfering in China's legal system as part of a plot to bring the nation down in disgrace.
The nominees for the 2012 prize are former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, his successor Ban Ki-moon, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Bill Gates of Seattle, Chinese social activist Wang Dingguo, Peking University Prof. Tang Yijie, Chinese rice researcher Yuan Longping, and the 11th Panchen Lama. The Panchen Lama is the second-highest Tibetan religious leader after the Dalai Lama, but most Tibetans do not accept him because he was appointed by Beijing.
The award's sponsors are professors and academics who say they are independent of the Chinese government.
The 2010 prize went to former Taiwanese Vice President Lien Chan for having "built a bridge of peace between the mainland and Taiwan."
Another example of how our Foreign Affairs community (particularly the US State Dept.) underestimates the Chinese. One the one hand, China is Microsoft's largest market, so simply dismissing this "honor" is not without risks. On the other, China's human rights record is not terribly admirable. Of course, the US is all too quick to criticize China on the issue of human rights while ignoring our own far from perfect record.Â
I was looking at the winners of this award, and Bill Gates should not make this list. He has done so many wonderful things with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The winners of this list include Vladimir Putin, who received it because he "crushed anti-communist protests" in Russia. Instead of Bill Gates, I think one of the winners should have been Apple's Steve Jobs. When Jobs was alive, he was an all-around jerk, professionally and personally.
I wonder if he got a gift card along with it for a free kidney or organ of choice from a Chinese prisoner, keeping me awaking wondering!
Beyond Mr. Gates, the fact that Putin won a peace prize of any kind is killin' me!Â
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Oh wait...China... nevermind.
Why not? He's about as worthy as Barry was for the Nobel......
 @Gino Really?
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Mr. Gates has been a champion for world causes, and has put up millions upon millions of dollars to in efforts to make the world a better place. He has also motivated other millionaires/billionaires to donate to humanitarian causes as well.Â
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He and his foundation have a well-documented track record of trying to do good. Comparing him to Obama is a real joke.Â
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Your comment shows you are ignorant, and most likely looking for attention.Â
It's very appropriate that the Chinese socialist dictatorship which enforces population control by destruction of "inconvenient" extra people should recognize qualities of a kindred spirit in Bill Gates. I read on WND that Gates and his "Catholic" wife recently participated in a conference in the U.K, restricted to the wealthiest elite, which focused on means to enforce abortion, eugenics, and any other convenient means of population control. He apparently feels that his money gives him the dictatorial right to decide matters of life and death for the rest of us peasants, and that the wealthy should rule the planet. It's perfectly understandable and frightening that the Chinese socialist dictators should recognize Gates as one of their own. Perhaps in the future, we may be required to license our right to life as well as our software use with Gates and his wealthy cohorts, Chinese and otherwise.
 @Mary Well at least someone knows what I am talking about. Â
I wish Bill Gates would go over and educate China on how to be humane to animals. Â That country is and has horrific practices and I wish they would stop! Â People need to be more educated about how cruel that country is!
"The China International Peace Research Center launched the prize in 2010 in an apparent attempt to counter that year's Nobel Peace Prize which went to jailed Chinese dissident writer Liu Xiaobo."
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And the United States should launch it's own peace price in order to counter the Nobel Peace Prizs that went to Barack Obama apparently for just being able to fog a mirror.Â
@ByeByeBarry
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Apparently I am having real trouble with that "prize" word. Oh well, Obama and prize never should have appeared in the same sentence anyway.
Bill would handle the prize with grace and humility. Or.....he would use it as a platform to talk about pirating, and human rights initiatives that China needs to do in order to live and breath in a world society. My first thought stands....he would handle the prize with grace and humility. The political stuff would be for another time.
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Bill should move all his employees offshore.
 @bobalouie Uhhh... some might not want to move!
More seriously, Microsoft's offshore employees go to unbelievable effort to GET HERE to work, bringing wives and husbands with them when at all possible, and often seeking citizenship as well. They come here from India, China, Europe, many parts of Africa, Australia, Indonesia, South and Central America... Some buildings at Microsoft house more employees and contingent staff from other lands than they do native-born Americans.
The sad thing - in a way - is that Microsoft HAS TO reach offshore to find enough truly qualified employees in some disciplines.
Why Bill Gates?  No one finds it interesting or scary that he is so well liked by China? He is  speculated to support the idea Eugenics and reducing the population somehow through "reproductive technology" and he's got all that money, two things that China does (restrict population) and has (money).  And they call our president a communist?
 @keri555 "Oh... well... and besides all that, he's a (shudder) Democrat! That's a code word for Communist just like in China!"
Quit believing all the cr@p you read on whacko websites.
 @JLS1950  @p He also is not a full fledged Democrat.  For the humanitarian work the Bill Gates Foundation he donates money to the Democratic Party but for his business interests he donates to the Republican Party Campaign.  Who knows how he really votes.
 @JLS1950  @keri555  @p So he doesn't have much money and he doesn't believe in Eugenics?  I don't think that I found any of that information on a whacko website.Â
 @keri555  @JLS1950 its not 1940, Eugenics? really? LOL
Are you realy that ignorant?
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 @bobalouie So enlighten me with your wisdom.Â
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Tell them where they can put it, Bill
 @DualLeads Why?   There's much more mileage in not even responding to it. While Gates is in competition in a lot of ways with China, the simple fact is that the American corporate wealth is tied in with Chinese interests as well as India's. But the world's richest is where Gates lives in his public life, and those are who he does business with. They also get mileage because they can point to a wealthy American getting a prize. Learn to read a newspaper. This is a blurb with no digging for whomever's agenda. Whatever the simplest agendas are. If he does pander to the public for money he has no idea how it's going to go for sure right now, with so many torqued Americans. So what was the last rude retort Gates issued to the mass media?