BEIJING, June 14 -- A TV presenter issued a public apology after posing topless with two other women in hospital advertisements for women's health, the Beijing News said yesterday.

Chen Dan

    Chen Dan, a presenter on Changsha TV's "Women's Channel" in Central China's Hunan Province, drew fire from Internet chat-rooms and station bosses after her "Clever Girls Love Themselves More" advertisement appeared at bus stops and on billboards in Hunan's capital, Changsha.

    Chen, who was suspended from presenting duties, said it was a "public interest advertisement," the Beijing News said.

    Changsha TV said in a statement Chen has been suspended from her job and would be penalized according to its rules.

    The statement said the advertisement, with its leading presenter as a model, was not endorsed by the TV station, therefore damaging its image and legal rights. The statement said the TV station reserves the right of legal action against the activity organizer.

    The advertisement provoked fierce debate online and in local media over the morality of using nudity to promote public interest causes, and whether the article was a commercial stunt for the women or Changsha's Shangmei Gynecology Hospital.

(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)