Mistress of China graft suspect paragon

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BEIJING, Dec 18 (Reuters) The mistress of a building contractor has won the hearts of Chinese internet surfers for masterminding the ''rescue'' of her lover who was in custody and under interrogation for corruption.

An overwhelming majority of 1,000-odd message board postings on Chinese portal Netease sympathised with Liu Qian, 27, who went on trial in Beijing in November accused of disturbing social order.

Many hailed her as a ''paragon mistress'' for orchestrating the freeing of Yao Chuanrui, a former manager of a state construction company, from a Beijing hotel where he had been held secretly for months under a form of detention known as ''shuang gui''.

Liu and 16 friends and relatives went to the hotel in February, crowded round the guards and created pandemonium, allowing Yao to escape. He had bribed a guard and smuggled out a note to Liu, begging her to help him.

Many Net surfers rushed to Liu's defence, arguing that ''shuang gui'' -- where suspects are held at secret locations and questioned indefinitely -- was illegal.

Some surfers said a state television programme should name her on its list of ''top 10 people who moved China in 2006''.

Yao has been charged with embezzling 70 million yuan in company funds.

State media did not give Yao's age, but said the couple had been together for at least eight years and had a child.