Beijing: Corrupt officials will be punished

Any official involved in corruption, no matter how senior, will be punished, Beijing has said. The announcement came a day after the Communist Party expelled former Beijing vice-mayor Liu Zhihua, who had been in charge of the US$40 billion construction Olympic venues construction project, the South China Morning Post reported. "You must believe that the Chinese government's resolve to fight corruption is very strong," said Beijing city government spokeswoman Wang Hui. Liu was fired in June and the government insists the Olympics will be free of graft. Beijing's party secretary told state media that the government "must tighten auditing and monitoring efforts on the preparatory work of the Olympics to prevent all problems".