By Huang Jingjing

A controversial Chinese writer claims he tried to bribe a member of the Committee for the Nobel Prize in Literature through an unidentified broker in order to give himself a better chance of winning this year's award.

Zhang Yiyi told the Global Times in an online interview Wednesday that he transferred $600,000 to the bank account of a German sinologist, whose identity Zhang refused to disclose, in December 2010 during an academic tour of China by the scholar.

Zhang said the money was then meant to be paid to Professor Göran Malmqvist, a Swedish sinologist, to translate three of Zhang's works, as part of an attempt to bribe the scholar to influence the committee over the selection of this year's winner, reports say.

Zhang told the Global Times that the renowned German sinologist promised to direct the money to Malmqvist and later introduce them to each other.

"But this German sinologist fooled me. He took away the money but told me that Malmqvist had agreed to translate my works … The German claimed Malmqvist suggested that lobbying the committee would cost another $3 million," Zhang told the Global Times.

"I guess it would have been a whole different story if I had offered much more than that," Zhang said.

Zhang is noted for making outrageous comments and writing books that went against commonly accepted concepts of classical Chinese literature.

In April, he said he planned to pay $150,000 to undergo a facelift and become a "second Shakespeare." He has also claimed that Cao Xueqin, the author of The Dream of Red Mansions, was a woman. He completely reinterpreted the characters and the storyline of the Chinese classic in one of his latest books.

A report by China National Radio's portal, cnr.cn, said the allegations of bribery originated from Swedish media reports but did not specify the source. 

Li Xiguang, a professor of journalism and director of the Tsinghua University International Center for Communications (TICC), posted the news on his microblog Monday and said the Nobel Prize in Literature "is facing its greatest crisis of trust" and "its authority and fairness face an unprecedented challenge."

On Tuesday, Malmqvist's wife, Chen Wenfen, sent an open letter on Malmqvist's behalf addressed to the president of Tsinghua University, condemning Li for "fabricating rumors."

"I'm rather surprised that a renowned Tsinghua professor should fabricate rumors: blasting me for accepting a bribe of $600,000 in order to translate works for a writer whom I don't even know and to persuade my colleagues to give the prize to the writer," the letter said, according to a copy obtained and published by Southern Metropolis.

"The only explanation is that the professor lacks morality. It's a pity that his contemptible action will damage views of western scholars toward Tsinghua University, and increase doubts about China's media circles," the letter said.

Li replied to the newspaper, saying that the news had been carried by cnr.cn. Li deleted the microblog entry Tuesday.

Chen said Li should be held accountable even if he is not the source of the rumor.

"He is a professor of journalism and communication. He should verify information before publishing it," Chen told the newspaper.

Chinese writer Murong Xuecun told the Global Times Wednesday that he believed it was a conspiracy directed by Zhang Yiyi, who has attempted to gain publicity in similar ways on several previous occasions.

"It would be an honor for Chinese writers to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, whose credibility stands with time and people's attention," said Murong. "I don't believe a judge from the Nobel Prize for Literature could have done that for money."

However, Zhang denied the allegations and said he does not mind the criticism.

"The foreign media must have deleted the news. The facts are the facts. I am not the only one in this circle to have tried to buy a literary award," he said.

Experts also pointed out that social networks pay too much attention to attracting visitors but often neglect to check their sources.

Chinese media watchdogs issued a joint statement in January urging journalists to prevent the release of false information and to strengthen their sense of social responsibility following a major false reporting incident.

In December, the China News Week microblog falsely reported that renowned novelist Zha Liangyong had died.

Wang Sixin, deputy director of the media regulation and policy research center at the Communications University of China, told the Global Times that the advantages of the new media should not be ignored.

"Microblogs allow users to post information easily and instantly, and enable users to be generators of information creating a great amount of information flow that is hard for websites to check carefully," Wang said.

"But they should act more cautiously and check the information's authenticity before giving it out. Because their influence is very big, they should shoulder more responsibility over the remarks they make in the public sphere," Wang said.

Zhu Shanshan contributed to this story