Beijing, Sept 24 : A former official of China''s Ethnic Affairs Commission has been sentenced to death on corruption charges, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Du Maoji, the former Deputy Director of the General Office of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission (SEAC), was sentenced to death for corruption with a two-year reprieve at the first trial, a state media report said.

The information was released by the Zhengzhou Railway Transportation Intermediate Court on Tuesday. Maoji was convicted for embezzlement, bribery and for illegally obtaining public funds.

According to the court, the total amount involved was as much as 25.92 million Yuan (nearly 3.8 million dollars). Du siphoned off 20.62 million Yuan for himself.

Hong Kong  - Dozens of flights were cancelled Tuesday as Typhoon Hagupit, which killed at least five people in the Philippines, bore down on Hong Kong.

Schools and kindergartens were closed Tuesday afternoon, and ferry services to outlying islands were suspended as the fast-moving storm closed in on the high-rise city of 6.9 million.

Weathermen forecast the typhoon would brush past Hong Kong Tuesday evening before making landfall in southern China. A high storm signal was expected to be hoisted by 6 pm (1000 GMT) Tuesday.

The Hong Kong Airport Authority said 47 flights had been cancelled Tuesday afternoon as high winds and squally rain lashed the former British colony.

The Chinese Health Ministry announced in a statement, released late on Sunday, that the number of children affected by consuming contaminated milk products has doubled, with about 12,900 in hospital and 104 of them seriously ill. This has reportedly been one of the worst product safety scandals in years.  

More than 80 percent of the sick were reported to be under age two. Hitherto, four deaths have been blamed on toxic milk powder causing kidney stones and agonizing complications.

Berlin - Germany's economic assistance ministry is ending all
financial aid to China, a spokesman said Monday, following complaints
that China is rich enough to fund its own projects.

Ministerial spokesman Stephan Bethe said Berlin would no longer
provide financial backing for development projects but would continue
to act in an advisory capacity.

Last year the ministry provided funds worth 67.5 million euros
(97.8 million dollars) to China, but has made no commitments for this
year or next, the spokesman said.

Beijing - Shares on China's main stock market leapt by nearly 8 per cent on Monday, following an even bigger jump on Friday, spurred by weekend news of the US government's financial rescue plan.

The key Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks shares traded in local and foreign currencies, gained 161.32 points, or 7.77 per cent, to end the day at 2,236.41.

The rise followed a gain of 9.46 per cent in Shanghai on Friday, the previous trading day, and was also influenced by the government's easing of rules for share buy-back, state media said.

The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index rose by 3.8 per cent, or 22.62 points, to close at 618.34 on Monday.

Taipei - A Taiwan-based Chinese dissident, angry that the Taiwan government has not granted him permanent asylum, on Monday asked Taipei to send him back to China.

Cai Lujun, 40, said he made the request because he can no longer endure the "endless wait" for asylum and the humiliation of living like a "half-ghost, half-human being" in Taiwan.

He said he is not afraid of imprisonment in China for defecting to Taiwan, because it is better being jailed in China than begging for food and waiting indefinitely for asylum in Taiwan, he said in a statement.