Former governor dismissed from Party

BEIJING - A former governor of a Yi autonomous prefecture in Southwest China's Yunnan province was expelled from the Party after he was alleged to have abused drugs, maintained "improper" sexual relations and taken bribes, a local Party authority said on Wednesday.

The Yunnan provincial Party committee's standing committee said in a statement on Wednesday that it had decided the day before to expel Yang Hongwei, former governor of the Chuxiong Yi autonomous prefecture, after investigations had linked him to bribery, drug abuse and derelictions of duty, as well as the enjoyment of an "indecent life".

Yang, 48, is believed to have accepted cash bribes that included 10 million yuan ($1.55 million), $138,000, 30,000 HK dollars, and 30,000 Australian dollars when he was governor of Chuxiong from 2006 to 2011, the statement said.