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While China is making efforts to promote village democracy, some voters were found being bribed in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

According to the Beijing-based weekly magazine Outlook, Yun Lianchang was voted head of the village committee in Qian Baimiao Village of Jinhe Town after he spent 400,000 yuan (US$50,000) on laying on banquets for villagers and paying them sums of cash.

He defeated his only rival Qiao Yumei, who reportedly spent 260,000 yuan (US$32,500) for the same purpose. The loser even asked the villagers for her money back once she learnt of her defeat.

"My wife and I received a total of 2,400 yuan (US$300) from both candidates," villager Zhang Yue told the magazine. "Candidates also canvassed voters by serving them meals in restaurants," he added.

The Hohhot local government and people's congress are now investigating the election but so far Yun Liancheng remains in his new post. According to Chinese law, elections marred by bribery are void.

Qiao Yumei defended her bribery efforts by claiming that "someone used bribery to beat his rival in the previous election and held the position for the past three years without being punished."

The investigation by "Outlook" uncovered similar activities in other villages in the Jinhe and Xibashan Townships.

The amount of money spent on being elected was higher in the villages closest to the city. "Those who want a more prestigious position have to pay more. The more money a candidate spends, the more votes he gets," said one villager on condition of anonymity.

"Many villagers enjoyed the election days. After all, they were being given free meals and cash," he said.

The average annual income of a village official is no more than10,000 yuan (US$1,250) in Inner Mongolia. Once elected, village officials are sometimes able to recover the election expenditure through land deals and some infrastructure projects, the magazine quoted a villager as saying.

Land prices on the outskirts of Hohhot, the regional capital of Inner Mongolia, are soaring as the city searches for more land to accommodate its growing population and industries.

"The expropriation of land by the government results in huge sums of compensation being granted to the village committee," said a villager named Li Baoming. "But I have no idea where the compensation money has gone, since I have received nothing from the village committee."

In Xiaoyi City, Shanxi Province, the local government has failed to supervise the activities of village officials who have the final say on the village's budget and spending. These local village committees lack transparency and democracy, the magazine quoted Xue Houhua, a local official, as saying.

Those who have been successful in the village elections have to recover their spending through taking bribes or skimping villagers, Qiao Wangwang, a villager in Qian Luojiaying Village, Xiaoyi, said.

Election-related bribery is rampant due to the low cost of bribery and lack of relevant laws to curb such illegal activities,the Outlook magazine cited law experts as saying.

(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2006)