Chinese investigators widen net to stifle corruption

BEIJING, June 20 (Reuters) The number of officials investigated for abuse of power in China has risen by nearly 10 percent so far this year as part of a drive to rein in corruption, state media reported today.

The Beijing Youth Daily said that anti-corruption investigators probed 3,470 government officials involved in 2,808 cases of abuse of office in the first five months of 2007. Nearly half the cases involved serious abuses of office.

The crackdown comes as President Hu Jintao seeks to bolster his authority and public standing by decrying government extravagance and abuses, and amid public unrest over corruption and misrule.

''In 2007, apart from problems which drew strong public reaction such as food and drug safety, hygiene, damage to land resources and the environment, investigating authorities also gave priority to the trend of frequent major safety accidents,'' the paper quoted Chen Lianfu, a senior prosecutor, as saying.

More than 800 police and judicial officials had been probed this year for abuses of power, including illegal detention, torturing of detainees and ''lax law enforcement'', Chen said.

Corruption has become rampant in China since market reforms were launched in the 1980s, and the Communist Party has warned that graft could threaten its rule if not curbed.

However, investigators are hampered by a political system that permits few checks and balances on official power and a judiciary that is packed with Party-appointed judges.

REUTERS RJ PM1045