WHEN PREMIER Zhu Rongji ordered the notorious 'red chamber' of alleged smuggling kingpin Lai Changxing be opened to the public, he intended it to serve as an 'anti-corruption museum'. The six-storey building in Xiamen, lavishly equipped with guest rooms, saunas, karaoke rooms and entertainment suites, is said to have been used by Lai to lure officials into his web of corruption.
Earlier this month, the building was suddenly closed after operating as a museum for less than three weeks. The official explanation was the step had been taken for safety reasons.
But it also appears Mr Zhu's honourable intentions were in danger of backfiring. Instead of serving to denigrate the culture of corruption said to have generated Lai's lavish lifestyle, cadres feared the 'red house' would glamorise the alleged smuggling kingpin's rise to infamy.
Xiamen's deputy party chief, Chen Xiumao, told the China Youth Daily: 'The staircase inside can only let two people pass through at the same time, but the crowd keeps clogging the way. The carpet and wooden decorations are highly flammable when fire breaks out. If the water sprinkler was triggered, it would damage the evidence within. The building has to stay the same before the file on Lai's case is closed.'
Lai fled to Canada in 1999 and is now fighting moves to send him back to the mainland for trial.
The director of Xiamen's propaganda department, Du Mingcong, said the building had already served its educational purpose, arguing many cadres had visited the week prior to its public opening, when only officials were allowed to attend.