The Confucius Peace Prize public relations trainwreck continues with the announcement of Russian prime minister (and soon-to-be president) Vladimir Putin as the winner of the 2nd annual Confucius Peace Prize. Known around the world for his dictatorial ways, forcible silencing of his critics, and for being the "Butcher of Chechnya", the Russian beacon of peace (according to the judges anyway) beat seven other nominees -- Gyaltsen Norbu (the "Chinese Panchen Lama"), Bill Gates, South African President Jacob Zuma, former UN chief Kofi Annan, Yuan Longping, a Chinese agricultural scientist known as the "father of hybrid rice", German chancellor Angela Merkel, and Taiwanese politician James Soong (宋楚瑜) -- to clinch the highly-uncoveted title. more ›

Hey remember that shanzhai peace prize China gave out about a month ago? Well it looks like they’re doing it for real this time. China now has its own official version of a peace prize, the Confucius Peace Prize, and they’re handing it out tomorrow, just one day before those pasty-faced Northern Europeans give out that other prize. more ›

Hard to tell from the raucous clamor of Shanghai streets, but apparently the most Chinese character is 和 ("peace") according to a study from China Heritage. Not all that evident as old ladies push and shove their way to the front of any line, but he does appear as the first character in two government slogans: 和谐社会 (hexie shehui) meaning "harmonious society" and 和平崛起 (heping jueqi) or "peaceful rise." Let's not also forget the expo and the splattering of posters around the city with people coming together to hug Haibao as well as the Beijing Olympics banner touting "One World, One Dream." At the same time, also topping the list is tan (贪 ), the character representing greediness...perhaps a little more reflective of actual society than the much more philosophical concept of harmony. more ›

NOTE: The opinions expressed in "Opinionist" columns are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Shanghaiist. more ›