Nobel peace prize winners to attend Taipei seminar

Six Nobel Peace Prize laureates invited by Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) have agreed to attend the 2001 Global Peace Assembly forum at the Grand Hotel on Aug. 15 and Aug. 16, a series of activities organized by Lu to promote peace.

At a luncheon in honor of executives of Taiwan's major mass media agencies and companies yesterday, Lu said the participation of six Nobel laureates in the activities indicates that Taiwan's freedom and democratization are now widely recognized by the international community and underscores an ancient Chinese proverb that "virtuous people will not be lonely."

With the help of UN non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the attendance of the six -- former South African president Frederik Willem de Klerk, Poland's former president Lech Walesa, former president of Costa Rica Oscar Arias Sanchez, Northern Ireland peace advocator Betty Williams, English anti-nuclear activist Joseph Rotblat and American anti-land mine activist Jody Williams -- will offer Taiwan much-needed international exposure, according to Lu's aides.

Lu said she was looking forward to the laureates' visits.