The nominees were named based on the results of an online poll, the statement said.

Lien traveled to the mainland in 2005, as the then KMT chairman and met with Hu Jintao, the general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. It was the first such meeting between the two parties since 1949. Landmark cross-Straits pacts, including direct-flight agreements and a major trade-facilitation deal between the mainland and Taiwan, have been signed in recent years.

A spokesman for Lien Chan's office in Taipei, however, said the office "has not received any notice or confirmation from the Confucius Peace Prize committee," noting that they became aware of the award via media reports only.

Li Yonghui, a foreign relations professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times Wednesday that the establishment of such an award was to express the way Chinese interpret peace.

"One can hardly conclude that this award is linked to, or is used to protest, any other award. Because such attempts would downgrade the intention and merit of having the Confucius Peace Prize," Li said.