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BEIJING - China has issued a warning to officials of severe punishment if they are discovered involved in corruption linked to earthquake relief, state media has reported.
The country's top anti-graft body published a notice saying it would punish any official who sought "personal advantage" or did not "fulfill their duties" in aid work for the disaster, Xinhua news agency said late Tuesday.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China urged bodies late Tuesday to "swiftly and severely" deal with official corruption that "hampered progress or caused an extreme waste of supplies."
China will make public information such as the source and destination of relief supplies, and their description and quantities, Xinhua also reported.
Police authorities have been told to crack down on fraud or illegal collection of public donations for quake victims, according to the news agency.
Corruption is endemic in China, both in government ranks and throughout society, as the country ploughs through its development boom without a free press or an independent judiciary.
President Hu Jintao has in the past warned that graft is one of the biggest threats to the legitimacy of the ruling Communist Party.
As donations for quake-ravaged Sichuan province -- where more than 40,000 people have died -- exceed 10 billion yuan (1.4 billion dollars), China has vowed that all of the money and aid material will reach those who need it.
- AFP /ls
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