An international drive to support the nomination of Saburo Ienaga, a Japanese history professor and antiwar activist, for the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize has begun in Hong Kong, with 15 legislators and professors signing up to be his nominators.
Campaigners and supporters say Ienaga deserves the honor for his lifelong contribution to peace though his work to ensure Japan's wartime record is fully known.
Among the signatories are Takako Doi, leader of the Social Democratic Party; Graham Watson, chairman of the human rights committee of the European Parliament; Allen Lee, a Hong Kong deputy to the Chinese National People's Congress; and Richard Minnear, an American professor of Japanese studies.
Paul Harris, one of some 40 campaign initiators, said his group is writing to former Nobel peace laureates, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, East Timor independence leader Jose Ramos-Horta and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung to seek their support.