Former NE China lawmaker arrested over sex scandal

A former lawmaker from northeast China's Heilongjiang province has been arrested following a rape accusation from a female journalist, local authorities confirmed on Friday.

An investigation by the local disciplinary watchdog showed that Sun Dejiang had embezzled public money, defrauded pension funds and maintained "improper relationships" with several women, said a statement issued by the publicity department of the city of Shuangcheng.

Sun was initially exposed on Nov. 23 in a microblog post written by Wang Dechun, a local journalist, who claimed that Sun had forced her into maintaining an adulterous relationship with him.

Wang said Sun forced her to have sex with him even when she was seven months pregnant. She also accused him of abusing his power for personal gain.

The procuratorate of the city on Monday approved the arrest of Sun, who is also former general manager of the Shuangcheng City Industry Corporation.

Sun was suspended from his position as a deputy to Shuangcheng municipal People's Congress on Dec. 1 and removed from his position in the Shuangcheng City Industry Corporation on Dec. 3.

Sun is one of several officials who have been removed from their posts as a result of sex scandals in recent months.

Yi Junqing, director of the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, was removed from his post for maintaining an "improper lifestyle" earlier this month after an online post detailing his alleged affair with a woman who claimed to be his former mistress went viral on the Internet.

One video clip featuring an official later confirmed to be Communist Party of China (CPC) Secretary of Chongqing's Beibei district Lei Zhengfu went viral online in November, prompting an investigation and leading to Lei's sacking within ten days of the scandal breaking.

Municipal authorities in Chongqing announced Thursday that another ten officials were sacked for allegedly appearing in sex videos secretly filmed by a criminal gang for the purpose of extortion.