Nobel official defends disputed China trips

Prison sentences possible
If charged and convicted, the jurors would face fines or up to two years in prison.

Gunnar Oquist, permanent secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the prizes in physics, chemistry and economics, expressed regret about the China trips, noting that they were not organized by the academy.

Oquist said he only knew about the 2006 trip and that he had thought it was to focus on scientific prizes in general, not just the Nobels.

"The only thing I wanted to make sure was that it wouldn't become a Nobel trip, so to speak. Now, that's what it turned into anyway because the Chinese made a very big deal about it," Oquist said. "There was more of a Nobel focus than one had expected."

The academy has a verbal policy on not getting into situations representing a conflict of interest, but Oquist suggested it was time to lay down more specific guidelines "after what has happened."

In Oslo, Nobel Institute Director Geir Lundestad said members of the peace prize committee have also accepted trips to attend conferences and give lectures.

"I do not think it is right to have an absolute ban on letting the organizers pay such trips," he said. "That would be impractical and expensive."

Lundestad said the Nobel Foundation decided at a board meeting last Friday how the Nobel Prize committees should handle financing for their trips in the future.

Sohlman confirmed there was a regular board meeting on Friday in Stockholm, but declined to say what was discussed because the foundation is private.

He called the extensive media coverage of the trips "ridiculous" and said that he himself has accepted several invitations to give lectures about the awards in France, the United States, South Korea and Japan.

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