SHENZHEN -- Two Shanghai journalists whose assets were frozen in a 30-million-yuan (US$3.75 million)defamation case brought by a Taiwan-funded company have opened a blog which has drawn tens of thousands of comments.

China Business News journalists Weng Bao and Wang You opened a blog on Chinese website www.sina.com.cn to voice their grievances. The first article was posted at 4:10 p.m. Monday and had been read by 69,675 Internet users in the first 26 and a half hours.

Weng said in the blog that he was under tremendous pressure. "It is the most difficult time for me since I began to work for media ten years ago."

Wang You said her home, which was included in the list of frozen assets, was a gift from her parents who spent all their savings, and in the bank account was money given by her mother for a dowry.

Some readers criticized the Hongfujin Precision Industry Co., the wholly-owned subsidiary of Taiwan's Foxconn that manufactures iPods for the US-based Apple Inc, for suing the journalists personally over a report alleging most of its workers had to work standing up 12 hours a day and some fainted with fatigue.

Some supporters said they were journalists and editors with other media in China.

However, a reader calling himself Fandui, the Chinese for "Objection", said, "The wording of the journalists' report is a bit sensationalist. They should have investigated more thoroughly."

An on-line poll of 16,156 people launched by www.sina.com.cn showed on Tuesday evening that 52.17 percent of respondents believed that Hongfujin would lose the case, 37.9 percent argued that the company and the journalists would be reach an agreement, 5 percent believed the company would win and the remaining 4.93 percent were undecided.

The survey also showed 87.66 percent of people believed the two journalists did not damage the reputation of the company.

Hongfujin is seeking 30 million yuan in damages from the journalists with the Shanghai-based newspaper. The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court froze the journalists' assets, including their homes, a car and two bank accounts.

It is believed to be the largest sum in damages ever sought in a Chinese defamation case and the first defamation lawsuit against individual journalists in China in recent years.

Yun Lizhen, an official with Guangdong High Court, told Xinhua on Tuesday that the Shenzhen court officials held a meeting after Chinese media reported the case and the court would hear and settle the case as soon as possible.

Hongfujin officials refused to comment on the case on Tuesday, but said they would make a response to the media at a later date.