China promises 'clean' 2008 Olympics

BEIJING --A Chinese Communist Party official on Wednesday promised a "clean" 2008 Olympics, one day after the party expelled the Beijing vice mayor in charge of Olympic construction projects, accusing him of bribery and other charges, state media said.

Liu Zhihua, who had been unexpectedly fired in June, took bribes of "several million yuan" and "helped his mistress to seek profit in projects," a state television report said Tuesday, without offering further details. Officials have said that Liu's alleged misdeeds were not connected to Olympic projects. State television said that Liu had been handed over to prosecutors.

"We must tighten auditing and monitoring efforts on the preparatory work of the Olympics to prevent all potential problems," Liu Qi, secretary of the Chinese Communist Party's Beijing Municipal Committee, told the Beijing Daily newspaper Wednesday. "Efforts must be made to ensure that staff members involved in the Olympic preparations and venue construction projects remain on track, and make sure the Olympics are clean."

Beijing is spending $38 billion on urban renewal and infrastructure construction for 2008. At the same time, an anti-corruption drive is being promoted in Beijing and other major cities.

Chinese President Hu Jintao also has been trying weed out rivals and shore up support within the party before a major congress late next year.