Taipei, Sept. 22 (CNA) A Cabinet official on Thursday touted the Tang Prize as a unique award that focuses not only on science and technology, but calls attention to the sustainability of the planet.
"The award sets its eyes not only on Taiwan, but the entire world. It pays attention not only to the field of science and technology, but the sustainable development of the Earth and how mankind can live in peace," Minister-without-Portfolio Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) of the Executive Yuan, said at an event in Taipei to mark the opening of Tang Prize Week.
"These are not only the aims of the award, but they should also be the goals of every university in Taiwan," Wu said.
Tang Prize Week will be held from Sept. 22-28 to highlight the achievements of this year's laureates. It consists of lectures from the laureates at various universities and high schools around Taiwan, as well as two exhibitions, a banquet and a concert.
The biennial Tang Prize was founded in 2012 by Taiwanese entrepreneur Samuel Yin (尹衍樑) to complement the Nobel Prize and recognize achievements in the fields of sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, Sinology and the rule of law. The first Tang Prizes were awarded in 2014.
This year's laureates are Arthur H. Rosenfeld, former commissioner of the California Energy Commission, who won the prize for sustainable development; Jennifer A. Doudna and Feng Zhang (張鋒) of the United States, and Emmanuelle Charpentier of France, who shared the prize for biopharmaceutical science; American scholar William Theodore de Bary, who won the prize for Sinology; and Louise Arbour, a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who won the prize for rule of law.
All of the laureates attended Thursday's event at the National Palace Museum, except for Rosenfeld and de Bary, who could not visit Taiwan due to their health.
Samuel Yin, the founder of the award, noted that as part of Tang Prize Week this year, the Tang Prize Foundation has cooperated with National Palace Museum to launch an exhibition that highlights the theme of sustainable development.
Lin Jeng-yi (林正儀), director of the National Palace Museum, said the exhibition, "Viewing Nature in Chinese Art," feature selected paintings and artifacts from his museum that show how ancient Chinese people view nature.
"We hope to help visitors understand how people of different generations view and care about nature and how they live in harmony and balance with nature," Lin said.
The Tang Prize award ceremony is scheduled to be held on Sept. 25 at the National Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall in Taipei.
