Nobel Peace Prize Tipped To Maintain Spotlight On China
Punters are tipping the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize to maintain a focus on China’s human right record, reports bookie Paddy Power.
Favourite in the betting for this year’s peace prize, announced on Friday, is China’s Hu Jia at 7/4. One of the most known dissidents in China, Hu Jia is currently in jail for speaking out at the European Parliament against China’s human rights record.
Hu Jia is followed in Paddy Power’s betting by Thich Quang Do at 4/1, a critic of the Vietnamese government who has spent the last 25 years in detention for advocating religious freedom and democracy. Having been nominated for the Nobel prize many times before many feel the time could now be right for Quang Do to be recognised.
Possibly the most recognisable name amongst the 2008 front-runners would be Morgan Tsvangiri. At 8/1 Zimbabwe’s new Prime minister has been at the forefront of the push to democracy in standing up to the nefarious Mugabe regime.
Of the more familiar names in the betting outgoing US President George W Bush is the rank outsider at 500/1 with Russian Vladimir Putin 250/1. Tony Blair is 66/1 and Bono a 50/1 shot.
Darren Haines, spokesman for Paddy Power, said: ”The Nobel Peace Prize is notoriously one of the most difficult novelty betting markets for punters to predict. But with the Beijing Olympics now behind us The Nobel Committee may feel the time is right to maintain focus on China’s human rights issues.” Nobel Peace Prize Winner 2008
7/4 Hu Jia
4/1 Thich Quang Do
6/1 Lidia Yusupova
8/1 Morgan Tsvangirai
8/1 Ingrid Betancourt
8/1 Martti Ahtisaari
10/1 The Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC)
12/1 Mwai Kibaki, Raila Odinga and the African Union
14/1 Wei Jingsheng
16/1 Abdelaziz Bouteflika
18/1 Mordechai Vanunu
25/1 Helmut Kohl
25/1 The Peace Jam Foundation
33/1 Father John Dear
33/1 Bob Geldof
40/1 Bill Richardson
40/1 Greenpeace
50/1 Bono
50/1 Esperanto
66/1 Bertie Ahern
66/1 Tony Blair
80/1 Nicolas Sarkozy
250/1 Vladimir Putin
500/1 George Bush
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