Chinese Nobel alternatives

       At the NYRblog Perry Link continues the argument, in Why We Should Criticize Mo Yan (see also the full-length version of the piece at ChinaFile, from which this is taken).
       What I found most interesting here are his concluding sentences, explaining who his top choices for the Nobel would have been among Chinese writers:

Mo Yan would not have been at the top of my own list, which would include writers who work both "inside the system" in China and outside it. For authenticity and control of language, I would rate Zhong Acheng, Jia Pingwa, Wang Anyi, Liao Yiwu and Wang Shuo more highly; for mastery of the craft of fiction, Pai Hsien-yung and Ha Jin are clearly superior to Mo Yan; for breadth of spiritual vision, Zheng Yi is one of my favorites. I would also have put Yu Hua or Jin Yong (the Hong Kong writer of popular historical martial-arts fiction) above Mo Yan. But these are only my views. Please help yourself to your own.

       An interesting list, though it seems to me one that makes a point of needling the Chinese authorities (and the Swedish Academy) with the inclusion of the Taiwanese and English-writing authors, not mention Louis Cha -- though of course all this is harder for those of us with no Chinese to judge (though we can all agree: Ha Jin ? seriously ?). Most of these authors have only a limited amount of their work available in English; Wang Anyi and Yu Hua (and Louis Cha) probably the most.
       Striking omissions include Lenin's Kisses (etc.) author Yan Lianke and local favorite Wang Meng. As to some of these choices -- Please Don't Call Me Human author Wang Shuo ? I don't see it -- but then there's a lot of his work that hasn't been translated. On the other hand, I've said repeatedly over the years that Jia Pingwa is someone to keep in mind as far as Chinese Nobel candidates go.
       Among the other authors, I'm not sure that Pai Hsien-yung's Crystal Boys has been presented to the English-reading public in the ... ideal way. Sure, Mo Yan translator Howard Goldblatt translated it, but I'm guessing most folks wouldn't be too comfortable reading this Gay Sunshine Press publication in public. (I have to admit I was unfamiliar with Gay Sunshine Press until now -- but, hey, they publish fiction in translation ! Be adventurous and get your copy of Crystal Boys from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.)
       And if he's going to tout Jin Yong -- worthy of a mention, but not in conjunction with the Nobel -- why not use the name under which his books are published in English, Louis Cha ? See, for example, the Oxford University Press (yes, they're his publishers too) publicity page for The Book and the Sword.