Chinese official fired over sex tape

A Communist Party official in southwest China was fired after a sex video of him surfaced online, officials said. Screenshots from a video of Lei Zhengfu, a party chief in the city of Chongqing, were published online by microbloggers on Tuesday, the BBC reported. The area where he served was the same where ousted party up-and-comer Bo Xilai held sway from 2007 until a U.S. consulate stay by his police chief and the murder of a British businessman by his wife turned a spotlight on him. It is unclear who made the video of Lei and how it emerged. Chinese journalist Ji Xuguang, who posted the images on Tuesday, said the video was made in 2007 and identified Lei as the man in the photos having "improper sexual relations" with an 18-year-old "mistress." Lei responded to the images by saying that the video is a fake. Lei was fired after an investigation by local party officials concluded that the man in the pictures was indeed him.