He's proven he can race a Formula 1 car, take down an opponent in judo, excavate archaeological digs and play piano. So what more does Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have left to accomplish?  

　　他已經(jīng)證明自己能飆一級方程式賽車，在柔道場上輕松拿下對手，客串考古學家發(fā)掘文物，還有彈鋼琴。那么，俄羅斯總理普京（Vladimir Putin）還能取得哪些成就呢？

　　How about winning China's “peace prize”?

　　贏取中國“和平獎”如何？

　　Mr. Putin has been named a contender for this year's “Confucius Peace Prize,” the Chinese alternative to the Nobel Peace Prize established last year.

　　普京已經(jīng)被提名為今年“孔子和平獎”的候選人。“孔子和平獎”是去年創(chuàng)立的，相當于中國的諾貝爾和平獎（Nobel Peace Prize）。

　　Nominees for the award were announced by Liu Haofeng, executive chairman of the award, on Saturday, according to AFP. In addition to Mr. Putin, those making the shortlist include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, nominated for “her contribution to regional peace in Europe&rdquo1473 the Panchen Lama, for “promoting harmony in China&rdquo1473 South African President Jacob Zuma; Yuan Longping, a Chinese scientist known as the father of hybrid rice; Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates; former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan; and James Soong, chairman of Taiwan's People First Party.

　　European Pressphoto Agency2011年8月29日，普京（前左）在黑海港口城市諾沃羅西斯克參加一個摩托車節(jié)期間駕駛一輛摩托車。據(jù)法新社（AFP）報道，“孔子和平獎”執(zhí)行主席劉浩峰在上周六公布了提名名單。除普京外，入圍的還有德國總理默克爾（Angela Merkel）、班禪喇嘛（Panchen Lama）、南非總統(tǒng)祖瑪（Jacob Zuma）、中國雜交水稻之父袁隆平、微軟創(chuàng)始人蓋茨（Bill Gates）、前聯(lián)合國秘書長安南（Kofi Annan）以及臺灣親民黨主席宋楚瑜。默克爾和班禪喇嘛分別因“對歐洲的區(qū)域和平作出貢獻”和“促進中國和諧”獲得提名。

　　The Panchen Lama, appointed by Beijing, is second-highest ranking lama in the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and was also a finalist last year, as was Mr. Gates.

　　班禪喇嘛是由中國政府任命的，他是藏傳佛教格魯派級別第二高的喇嘛。班禪喇嘛和蓋茨也曾入圍去年的“孔子和平獎”。

　　Mr. Liu told AFP the award had been set up by an association overseen by China's culture ministry. Last year, when asked by China Real Time whether the Ministry of Culture had any relationship with the Confucius Prize awards committee, a ministry spokeswoman said: “There are so many organizations affiliated with the ministry. It's hard for us to check.”

　　劉浩峰對法新社說，孔子和平獎由中國文化部下屬的一個協(xié)會創(chuàng)立。去年，《中國實時報》詢問文化部與“孔子和平獎”評委員會是否有關(guān)聯(lián)時，文化部發(fā)言人說，文化部的附屬機構(gòu)太多了，我們很難去查證。

　　But even the revelation of the candidates has not been without controversy, with a member of the Confucius Prize's jury criticizing Saturday's announcement as having been made before the jury had approved the candidates.

　　但就連候選人的公布都不無爭議，評委會的一位成員批評上周六的名單是在評委會未審核的情況下公布的。

　　Tan Changliu, last year's jury chairman and a member of this year's jury, told the state-run tabloid Global Times on Sunday that some of the nominees had not yet been approved, but declined to elaborate on which ones.

　　去年的評委會主席、今年的評委會成員譚長流周日對國有文摘報紙《環(huán)球時報》說，其中一些提名的候選人尚未通過審核，但他拒絕透露人名。

　　“It is inappropriate to release the name of candidates on which the jury panel has not reached a consensus,” Mr. Tan told The Global Times.

　　他對《環(huán)球時報》說，對外公布評委會尚未達成共識的候選人的名字是不合時宜的。

　　Last year, Lien Chan, Taiwan's former vice president and the honorary chairman of its Nationalist Party, was awarded the prize which includes 100,000 yuan, or about $15,700 ─ for having “built a bridge of peace between the mainland and Taiwan,” though he did not appear at the prize's awards ceremony. The prize was described in a statement last year as “the Peace Prize reconstructed according to Oriental thought.”

　　去年，臺灣前副總統(tǒng)、國民黨榮譽主席連戰(zhàn)因“在大陸和臺灣之間搭建和平橋梁”被授予“孔子和平獎”，獲得10萬元的獎金，但他卻沒有出席頒獎儀式。該獎在去年的一份聲明中被描述為“以東方思想而創(chuàng)建的和平獎”。

　　It's unclear what Mr. Putin has done to deserve nomination for a peace prize, particularly given his role in helping launch Russia's second war with Chechnya in 1999 ─ though the awarding of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (along with Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin) was criticized along much the same lines.

　　不清楚普京因為什么而獲得和平獎提名，特別是考慮到他在1999年發(fā)動俄羅斯與車臣的第二次戰(zhàn)爭中發(fā)揮的作用，不過1994年諾貝爾和平獎頒給巴勒斯坦領(lǐng)導人阿拉法特（Yasser Arafat）（他與以色列領(lǐng)導人佩雷斯（Shimon Peres）和拉賓（Yitzhak Rabin）一同獲得這一獎項）也因同樣的原因招致不少批評。

　　Maybe it was this image of the Russian leader cuddling with a puppy that swayed the award committee?

　　或許是普京這張擁抱小狗的照片打動了評委會？

　　In any case, Mr. Liu told AFP that the winner of the Confucius Prize will be announced Dec. 9 ─ a day before the Nobel ceremony in Oslo. This year's Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Oct. 7 from a record 241 nominations.

　　無論如何，劉浩峰對法新社說，“孔子和平獎”得主將會在12月9日公布，也就是諾貝爾和平獎在奧斯陸頒獎的前一天。今年的諾貝爾和平獎得主將于10月7日公布，共有241名候選人。