Zimbabwean President, Condemned by West, Is Selected for Chinese Peace Prize

 

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has crushed political opponents in his country, and democratic challengers and their supporters have faced intimidation, jail and worse.

Mr. Mugabe, whose ZANU-PF party controls the levers of power, 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 rulers 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 has selected Mr. Mugabe as this year’s recipient. Among the finalists for the award were Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations, 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 literary critic who is serving an 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.