Gansu official in adultery scandal removed from post

An official at the heart of a recent scandal over allegations of adultery was removed from his position in a legal affairs office in Zhangye, Gansu province.

A whistle-blowing post on the government's official blog on Sunday alleged that Wang Xinghe, deputy director of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, had extramarital affairs with scores of women and brought them home to stay overnight.

On Tuesday, the committee publicized the results of the investigation on Wang's case and said that Wang's wife put up the post to vent her anger amid their divorce proceedings.

Wang is responsible for the committee's publicity and is in charge of the official blog. He failed to secure the password for the blog in his personal computer at home and that gave his wife the opportunity to post the information.

Wang was removed from his position at the publicity department because of his dereliction of duty as manager of the blog and actions that had a negative impact on the department, the committee said.

Wang posted a personal statement on the blog on Monday, admitting that he married twice and now is divorcing his second wife. But he denied the affairs with other women.

Adultery is not a crime under Chinese law but regulations and disciplinary codes of the Communist Party of China and rules for public servants prohibit officials from such behavior.

Officials who commit adultery will be removed from their positions and expelled from the Party.