The mobile phone numbers of about 600 Chinese celebrities were posted on-line Saturday, according to Beijing Star Daily.

Many of the writers, film directors, sports stars, singers, actors listed were flooded with calls and said they would change their numbers if it continued. The list was deleted late Sunday's afternoon after being posted for two days.

Xiao Yu, assistant to singer Zhou Yanhong, said Zhou received many phone calls or short messages from strangers, some containing harassing information, during the past two days.

"She will have to change her phone number if the situation continues," Xiao said.

Zhang Ziyi, who starred in movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and many other actors forwarded their incoming calls to mobile service providers and some even shut off their phones.

Yang Lixin, law professor with the People's University, said cell phone numbers are part of privacy, which should be protected by law.

"The one who posts the cell phone numbers on-line violates others' privacy. If the website responsible for censoring the posted information doesn't delete it in time, it, together with those who relay the message, also violates people's right to privacy," Yang said.

He suggested the affected celebrities lodge a lawsuit against the poster and the websites.

Similar to this case, Hollywood reality TV star Paris Hilton found her cell phone was hacked into and its contents -- phone numbers and e-mail addresses -- were posted on the Internet in April.
 
(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2005)