You gotta admire the balls on this guy:

A planned anti-graft museum in southwest China is asking the public to nominate the 100 most corrupt officials of the past century, state media reported Saturday.

Fan Jianchuan, who operates a private museum in Chengdu, said he started collecting artifacts for his “Traitors Museum” after Internet users suggested the idea, Xinhua news agency said, citing a local newspaper.

“Starting now, the museum will accept nominations from the masses who can then vote on the museum’s web site,” Fan was quoted as saying.

His biggest concern is that he will be overwhelmed by too many suggestions.

“Of course places are limited, we must consider the level (of corruption),” he said.

Criteria for deciding the top 100 will include the official’s position, how much they stole, by what means, the circumstances and the impact of their corruption, he said.

Fan said he would ask the Communist Party’s disciplinary committee for support and envisions the museum as an anti-corruption education centre, possibly even providing tours for criminals serving prison sentences. (AFP)

What to say about this hapless fellow? For one thing, I’m glad to hear that he will be soliciting support from the Party. Maybe someone will helpfully take him aside and tell him to stop this shit before someone gets hurt — most likely Fan of course.

With respect to his criteria, I think he has his priorities a bit out of whack. Certainly the method and scope of corruption are good metrics and should be analyzed with a direct relationship in mind (i.e., the more money you stole, the more corrupt you are).

However, as far as getting a spot in the top 100, I think Fan might wish to adopt an inverse relationship between an official’s position and his level of corruption. If he follows his current thinking, he will end up with 100 very senior level folks, any one of which can have his head on a platter before sundown. Not a good idea, my man.

One exception to the above rule: certain officials who have been tried and sentenced/executed. If Fan can identify some very high level corrupt officials who: 1) have already been executed or received very long prison terms; and 2) do not have family currently serving in high level government positions, then he can probably get away with putting those guys on the “big bad” list.

When people talk about the entrepreneurial spirit of the Chinese, they often mention a high tolerance for risk. As a conservative person by nature, I actually admire this quality in others and am a bit jealous. But there is a limit, and I think that Fan Jianchuan is dancing perilously close to it.

Who knows? Maybe someone will make the selection of the Top 100 into a reality tv show. You know you’d watch it.