John,
Some time back the concept of authenticating hams using the P12 certificates such as the ARRL's Logbook of the World was discussed on this list. I'm bringing that up again in light of this recent issue, and also in case you weren't around when that was discussed on this list.
In my mind, it kind would kind of alleviate the manual scrutiny part, as it would be the certificate issuer's responsibility. (The ARRL typically mails a post card with a code to the license address) It might help filter out some of the bogus requests.
Steve, KB9MWR
The Chinese agency that licenses amateur radio operators, the State Radio Regulation of China (http://www.srrc.org.cn) does not appear to provide an English-language portal for looking up amateur radio licenses. This currently makes it a more manual process to verify the license status of Chinese hams. See: