By Chris Buckley

BEIJING, July 25 (Reuters) - China has vowed to punish officials who cause mass unrest by mishandling public complaints, according to new rules on handling petitions and riots that implicitly acknowledge problems with official misconduct.

With the Chinese government eager to present a national image of prosperous harmony at the Beijing Olympic Games next month, Chinese Communist Party leaders launched a massive police drive to stifle potential protest.

But a recent ripple of riots in several parts of the country has exposed discontent over corruption and official abuses.

In June, thousands of residents rioted and torched police and government buildings in Weng'an, Guizhou province, after claims spread that police covered up the rape and murder of a girl.

In another clash over the weekend in Yunnan provice, two people were killed when 500 rubber farmers armed with knives attacked police, injuring 41 officers and damaging eight police cars.

Late on Thursday the government issued rules threatening to punish officials who mishandle, ignore or exacerbate conflicts in what appears to be a move to show that central authorities are responding to these strains.

The rules on handling petitions from aggrieved citizens threaten demerit, demotion or dismissal for officials who "gravely harm the public's interests, sparking major problems in petitioning or mass incidents."

"Mass incidents" is an official Chinese euphemism for protests and riots.

Officials who "violate laws and regulations in using police force to handle mass incidents, misuse police equipment or coercive measures or violate procedures about carrying and using weapons," also face punishment, state the rules issued by state media and on the central government website (www.gov.cn).

Visiting state "petitions and visits" offices in provincial capitals and Beijing has for decades offered a rare channel for ordinary people to vent complaints.

Nationwide, petition visits grew from 4.8 million in 1995 to 12.7 million in 2005 -- dwarfing the 4 million new civil cases heard by courts that year.

The latest rules implicitly acknowledge a range of problems in handling of these complaints. They warn officials against tardiness in addressing complaints, "exacerbating conflict and causing severe repercussions."

They also warn against hiding and misreporting petitions.

These are by no means the first rules promising to stamp out official abuses and protect petitioners' rights. But in practice local officials face intense pressure to quell potential protest swiftly and harshly.

Ahead of the Olympics opening on Aug. 8, police and officials have been blocking petitioners seeking to reach Beijing and detaining many who have made it to the national capital. (Editing by Ken Wills and Valerie Lee) (For more stories visit our multimedia website "Road to Beijing" at http://www.reuters.com/news/sports/2008olympics; and see our blog at http://blogs.reuters.com/china)

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