Liaoning official punished for fraud

A former vice-governor of Liaoning province has been expelled from the Communist Party of China and his post for serious disciplinary violations such as electoral fraud, the country's top anti-graft watchdog announced on Monday.

Two other former vice-ministerial-level officials - one from Jiangsu province and the other from Hunan province - have been officially charged with taking bribes, the top procuratorate, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, said in another release on Monday.

Liu Qiang, 54, abused his power to organize electoral fraud to get himself elected as a provincial vice-governor, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a statement. Liu, the former Party chief of Fushun in Liaoning province, was elected as the vice-governor of the province during the annual session of the provincial people's congress in 2013.