Official jailed after 13 years on the run abroad: report

BEIJING, Dec 24, 2007 (AFP) - A former government official in northeast China has finally been jailed, after 13 years on the run in Canada and the United States, Chinese press reported Monday.

Song Shihe, 65, former chief of the Economic Reform Commission in Heilongjiang province, was sentenced to six years in jail for taking bribes and other forms of graft, the Beijing Times reported.

Song fled to Canada in June 1994 after becoming aware that prosecutors intended to arrest him.

He moved to the United States after four years, before being captured by US authorities in May this year and returned to China in July, the report said.

The United States has no formal extradition treaty with China, but there have been cases of US authorities sending back Chinese fugitives.

Song was convicted of embezzling with two other people 200,000 yuan (27,000 dollars) of subscription fees in a steel company's share offering, and taking bribes of 30,000 yuan, the report said.

Instances of Chinese government officials being involved in corruption are frequent. President Hu Jintao has warned graft is one of the greatest threats to the legitimacy of the ruling Communist Party.