Liao Yaozhong displays a bruise on his right arm on Wednesday. [Provided to China Daily]

BEIJING - After being beaten by his superior at a conference, a deputy chief official in Hunan province vowed to petition to have his assailant sacked.

The attack came after Liao Yaozhong, deputy head of the Hengyang judicial bureau, expressed disagreement with a decision the bureau head, Wan Chunsheng, had made at a meeting on Monday.

Wan had allegedly tried to appoint a woman who used to work at a local prison to a post at a legal-aid center.

According to central government rules, applicants for positions in agencies affiliated with the government must sit exams and go through face-to-face interviews. Wan's appointee, Guo Yufeng, had not gone through those tests, Liao contended.

"I didn't know what sort of relationship there was between Wan and the woman, and that's why I was suspicious and made my veto," Liao said on Thursday. "We have the right to know."

Shortly after seeing his choice refused, Wan started cursing and beating Liao.

"Someone was holding me and I couldn't protect myself," Liao said. "I was hit more than 10 times in the face and kicked several times."

Liao called the police afterward and was sent to the hospital for medical treatment, which he paid for himself.

"My cheek, shoulder, ear and head were all hurt," Liao said. "I can't even eat because it hurts when I chew."

After the attack, a photograph of Liao's injured face was posted on the Internet and widely circulated on Chinese micro blogs.

Liao reported the attack to the local Party committee on Tuesday afternoon, asking that Wan be sacked for corruption. He accused Wan of taking bribes from officials Wan had promoted and using public money to buy air conditioners and limousines for his family.

Huang Rongbao, deputy head of the Hengyang Party committee's organization department, which oversees the promotion of local officials, declined to discuss on Thursday whether he thought Wan is corrupt.

The day before, Wan said he and Liao had written apologies to each other and that the bureau where they work had been restored to order, according to a report by the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post.

"It's not a big issue, just a small conflict," the newspaper quoted Wan as saying, adding that he declined to discuss Liao's accusations of corruption.

Reached by China Daily, Wan again would not talk about the accusations.

Liao, for his part, said the bureau's Party committee had forced him to sign the apology to Wan.

"The (Party) organization is requiring me to be silent about this issue and not to say anything to the media," Liao said on Thursday. "I hope that Wan will be punished."

On Wednesday, Liao wrote on his micro blog that he thinks of himself as being a hero in the fight against corruption.

"I will be a man of integrity forever," he wrote. "I am daring enough to speak up and daring enough to act."

Cheng Shuying contributed to this story.