Another Farce - Vladimir Putin Awarded Confucius Peace Award

Another farce just staged in Beijing, where Confucius had been denounced in 1960-1990s and was invited back to buttress the legitimacy of the ruling Communist Party, when the Confucius Peace Award Committee announced that the second such prize was to be awarded to Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin.

Mr. Putin, a favorite world leader in China for his telegenic appearances, was cited for resolutely fighting back the separatists in Chechnya, and for vocally opposing NATO's air bombing of Libyan arm which under Khadafi's command was killing Libyan people.

The committee's legitimacy in China is quite murky.  After the first such award given to a Taiwanese politician, who didn't attend the ceremony and a large bundle of cash was given to a little girl, people know nothing about, Chinese government determined that such committee didn't have the right permit to exist.

The current committee is either a reincarnation in China or in Hong Kong, consists mostly of die-hard Maoists scholars, who continue to champion the legacy of Mao Zedong, whom more and more Chinese deemed a tyrant who drove Chinese people to utter misery.

The news of Putin's win apparently has been greeted by Chinese people with a collective jeer and suppressed by government run media.  Micro-blogs posted in many Chinese language sites even proposed to award future Confucius Peace Award to Hitler.

It is a farce indeed. Hopefully, Mr. Putin would attend the ceremony this time and hug his big bundle himself.