Xi Jinping
Photo by Greg Bowker - Pool/Getty Images
There is no argument that the lives of government officials can be fraught with danger — especially if that official also happens to be corrupt — and living in China.

China has come up with an innovative way to provide its corrupt officials with the highest degree of comfort and safety from potential harm. But why do this for someone who most likely belongs in jail?

According to Chinese authorities, it is because they do belong in jail and the government wants to make sure officials, it suspects of corruption, live long enough to be sent to prison. In an effort to prevent suspects from killing themselves before they have their day in court, China is sequestering its rogue government officials, in special suicide-proof jail cells.

Since President Xi Jinping began making good on his promise to clean up corruption in the Chinese government, the country has reportedly become plagued by what is being called an "official suicide wave," according to the Hong Kong Free Press. Apparently, suicide is more preferable to these potential inmates than the prospect of spending the rest of their lives in some dung-filled edifice that passes itself off as a place of incarceration.

Actually, the cause of the rash of suicides, among government officials, originates from the fact that if offenders kill themselves, it prevents confiscation of their illegally-gained spoils and protects loved ones and others from any legal blowback resulting from their actions. Suicide also provides officials a way to avoid prosecution and the subsequent disgrace of a criminal conviction. The initiative was developed after the Chinese president announced that prosecutors would also face punishment if the officials they investigate commit suicide.

The specially-built rooms are designed to prevent potential suicides by denying prisoners the means to do so. The cells have no hard or sharp surfaces, there are no anchor points to tie bed linens for hanging, and even the walls are padded. In addition to all of these luxurious amenities, the prisoners are constantly monitored by surveillance cameras and guards periodically check in on them as well.

When looking at the seeming opulence of these dwellings, which includes a bed that looks more comfortable than those in the average college dormitory, one might get the impression that these will be the permanent digs of offenders ultimately found guilty of the charges leveled against them. The reality is, just as the article says, these are provided for prisoners while being investigated. It is more likely that once convicted and publicly humiliated, these individuals will be trading in their relatively plush surroundings for the more prison-like confines of places like China's Qincheng Prison.
