No fraud complaint about former rail official

BEIJING - The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on Wednesday said in a statement that it had not received any complaint about fraud in an honorary academic election involving a former railway official.

The CAS, one of the country's top think tanks, made the clarification in response to media reports that Zhang Shuguang, former head of the Railways Ministry's transportation bureau and deputy chief engineer, confessed at the trial that some of the bribes he took were used to gain votes in the election for CAS membership, a lifelong academic title for natural scientific research.

Zhang was recommended as a CAS member candidate by the Railways Ministry in 2007 and 2009, but failed in both elections, according to the statement.

The CAS said harsh punishment will be handed out as long as election fraud is confirmed and it is open to public supervision.

The fight against CAS membership election fraud will be continued in order to safeguard justice and fairness, the CAS said in the statement.

Zhang stood trial in Beijing on Tuesday over charges of accepting more than 47 million yuan (7.68 million U.S. dollars) in bribes, according to Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court.