Top China official detained for graft

China’s top taekwondo official has been detained on suspicion of corruption, the official Xinhua news agency said Tuesday, with just months to go before the next Olympic Games.

Zhao Lei, 51, was ``taken away... for investigation” a week ago, said Chang Jianping, director of China’s Boxing and Taekwondo Administration Centre, according to Xinhua.

Xinhua did not give any further details of the accusations, and China’s sports ministry said it did not know the reason for Zhao’s detention.

``I have heard about this, but I am unaware of the specifics of his case,” a spokesman for the General Administration of Sports told AFP.

The Beijing Times said the move was linked to economic irregularities, which in China usually refers to the possession of money and valuables that cannot be accounted for.

Under Zhao’s charge, China has won at least one gold medal at each Olympics since taekwondo became an official event at the 2000 Games, Xinhua said.

Zhao speaks fluent English and Russian and has been a member of the World Taekwondo Federation judges commission since 2000, the report said.

BEIJING, Sunday (AFP)