The Tang Prize Foundation in Taiwan has announced the recipients of the inaugural Tang Prizes.

The Tang Prize in Rule of Law was awarded to South African human rights lawyer and activist Albie Sachs "for his many contributions to human rights and justice globally...[and] in particular [for] his efforts in the realization of the rule of law in a free and democratic South Africa, working as activist, lawyer, scholar, and framer of a new constitution to heal the divisions of the past and to [establish] a society that respects diversity and is based on democratic values, social justice, and fundamental human rights." Sachs joined the fight against apartheid at the age of 17; was imprisoned, tortured, and exiled for twenty-four years; survived a car bomb planted by South African security forces; returned to the country in 1990 to help write a new constitution; and served as a justice of the Constitutional Court from 1994 to 2009.

In addition, historian Yu Ying-shih, who retired from Princeton University in 2001, was awarded the prize in sinology for his work on the history of public intellectuals in China; James P. Allison of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Tasuku Honjo of Kyoto University were jointly awarded the prize in biopharmaceutical science for discoveries in immunotherapy that have opened up new possibilities in cancer treatment; and former Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, deputy chair of the Elders and a former UN Special Envoy on Climate Change, received the prize for sustainable development for her pioneering work in that field.

Founded in 2012 by Ruentex Group chair Samuel Yin, a Giving Pledge signatory, the Tang Prizes are awarded on a biennial basis. Recipients of the 2014 prizes will each receive a cash award of up to NT$40 million ($1.34 million) as well as a NT$10 million ($330,000) grant to facilitate further research and/or nurture talent in the field.