China's Confucius peace prize has chaotic launch as winner's office says he was not notified

This article is more than 8 years old
Organisers claim rival to Nobel is older than century-old Norwegian prize – at its inaugural ceremony
A girl named only as an 'angel of peace'  holds the first Confucius peace prize trophy
A girl, named only as an 'angel of peace' holds the first Confucius peace prize trophy after receiving it for the recipient, Lien Chan, at a confusing ceremeony in Beijing. Photograph: Jason Lee/Reuters

It was heralded as a Chinese rival to the Nobel peace prize, a riposte to the honouring of jailed dissident Liu Xiabo that has infuriated Beijing.

But the first Confucius peace prize had a rocky launch today. The first winner did not appear for the award ceremony, and only learned of his victory from reports in the media.

Instead, a bewildered young girl described by organisers as an "angel of peace" collected the 100,000-yuan (£9,500) cash prize awarded to a former Taiwanese vice-president for his work in improving relations with mainland China.

Lien Chan beat five other nominees, including past Nobel peace prize winners Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter, to win an award the organisers claimed had a longer history than the Nobel. But there was no sign of him at the chaotic and hastily convened press-conference-cum-ceremony. Reporters crammed into the meeting room in a Beijing hotel asked whether the organisers had even spoken to Lien's office. There was no direct reply.

"He is not here for a reason. We all know that he has accepted," insisted Tan Changliu, chairman of the judges.

But Ding Yuanchao, head of Lien's office, declined to say whether the politician would accept. He said his boss had learned of the award only through media reports.

"Peace is a universal value and no one will say no to it. But we have not received any notice on this Confucius peace prize and don't have any information on it, so I cannot comment," he added.

The judges told reporters they were not intending to challenge the Nobel, although they had previously described their prize as a "peaceful response" to the Norwegian award. The fact that the ceremony was taking place a day before the Oslo event to honour Liu was a coincidence, it seemed. So too was the fact that an opinion piece in a state newspaper had proposed the award as a riposte to the Nobel.

China is furious at the decision to recognise Liu, jailed for incitement to subvert state power after co-authoring a call for democratic reforms.

"The concept of peace must be based on harmony. We will only talk about peace," said Tan.

"The procedures and details regarding the Confucius peace prize are not to be connected to the three characters [of Liu Xiaobo's name] you just mentioned."

But another judge complained that people were criticising "every aspect" of China because of its rapid development.

"People are becoming angry because we are doing well," said Zhou Guidian, a philosophy scholar.

Tan boasted that the prize had a longer history than the Nobel, which may surprise the Norwegians; their award was first handed out in 1901.

"China is a large land and as we know there are many small countries in the western world. Therefore the roots of peace in China are deeper than in these small countries. So which is correct: that the Nobel peace prize inspired the Confucius prize, or that the Confucius prize inspired the Nobel?" Tan asked.

He said they had been preparing for the award since 1988 and "seeking Confucian wisdom"; evidently a lengthy process.

"Why do we announce it now? Because of the situation in north-east Asia. The US … and South Korea have had military drills in the Yellow Sea on a very large scale. Their aircraft carriers are coming as well," said Zhao Zhenjiang, another of the judges. "If there is war between China and the US, what will happen to China, the US, Japan and the world?"

The attempt to promote international amity appears to be an independent one. Although organisers told Associated Press they had worked closely with the ministry of culture, they later said it was nothing to do with the government. Officials said they knew nothing of it and it has received little coverage in state media. The 100,000-yuan prize was provided by an anonymous wellwisher, the committee said, and the judges are low-profile academics.

Still, the Confucius had one thing in common with the prestigious Nobel award: the absence of this year's winner. Unlike Lien, Liu has no choice in the matter; he is serving 11 years in a prison in northern China.