China to award own peace prize as counter to Nobel

BEIJING — China is awarding a peace prize to counter the Nobel recognizing imprisoned democracy campaigner Liu Xiaobo. Organizers of the Confucius Peace Prize will honor former Taiwanese vice president Lien Chan in Beijing on Thursday for his efforts at building peace between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. The prize named after the philosopher is intended to give the Chinese "viewpoint of peace." The awards committee says Lien, the honorary chairman of Taiwan's Nationalist Party, was selected from eight nominees. Lien's office in Taipei said Wednesday he had received no formal notification of the award. The Chinese award ceremony comes a day before the Nobel ceremony in Oslo. China has villified Liu, cracked down on fellow dissidents and urged other countries not to attend. — AP