The BBC’s outgoing China editor, Carrie Gracie, has been widely praised after she resigned as the BBC’s China editor in protest at unequal pay.

Hailed by a string of the corporation’s prominent figures, both male and female, as “brave”, “brilliant” and “principled”, Gracie said in an open letter to licence fee payers the BBC was facing “a crisis of trust” and warned it was breaking employment law by not paying its male and female workers equally.

The BBC has said it is performing “considerably better” than other organisations on gender pay, although a group representing women at the corporation said it knew of up to 200 people who had lodged complaints.

Gracie, who co-presented the Today programme on Monday morning, was backed by an outpouring of support that saw #IStandWithCarrie become a top trending hashtag.

The BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet, Radio 4 Today presenter Sarah Montague, and Jane Garvey of Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour all described Gracie as “brave and brilliant”.

Montague added: “Not sure what is so hard to understand about #equalpay for equal work.”

Male broadcasters from the BBC also shared their thoughts on her resignation.

The presenter, Christian Fraser, said there were “a number of awkward conversations ongoing between colleagues, and justifiable anger. Fair pay for same work. I would want it for my daughter. #IstandWithCarrie.”

Political correspondent Chris Mason described Gracie’s missive as a “zinger of a letter” that was “brave, thoughtful, powerful, forensic, dignified”.

Senior journalists from rival broadcasters also backed Gracie, among them Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman, who said it was “a tragedy for the BBC to lose such a talented China Editor #equalpay”.

Meanwhile a number of MPs voiced their support, including Labour’s Harriet Harman, Jess Phillips and Barbara Keeley and Conservative MP Nadine Dorries.

Phillips tweeted: “Here’s my suggestion. I’ll pay 50% less of my licence fee. I love and would die in ditch for the BBC but this isn’t the gender pay gap even, this is equal pay issue and it’s illegal to pay her less than men doing equivalent work. SORT IT OUT”

Dorries wrote on Twitter: “What a brave lady she is. Absolutely no way any woman under any circumstances should be paid less than any man for doing the same job.”

Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists said it was “determined to hold the BBC to account”.

She said: “It’s no surprise that NUJ member Carrie Gracie is not prepared to stay silent about the injustice wrought upon her by her own employer.

“Her letter to licence fee payers makes it clear what a difficult decision it has been to speak out about what she calls a crisis of trust at the BBC, but why it is vital that the British public are clear about why she has been forced to resign her post as China Editor and return early to London,” Stanistreet said in a statement.

The journalist, who has been with the BBC for 30 years and described leading its China coverage since 2004 as “the greatest privilege of my career”, stated her concerns in a letter addressed to the “BBC audience”.

She accused the corporation of a “secretive and illegal pay culture” after it was revealed two-thirds of its stars earning more than £150,000 were male.

The letter says: “With great regret, I have left my post as China editor to speak out publicly on a crisis of trust at the BBC.

“The BBC belongs to you, the licence fee payer. I believe you have a right to know that it is breaking equality law and resisting pressure for a fair and transparent pay structure.”

Gracie said she was not asking for a pay rise, but wanted the BBC to “simply ... abide by the law and value men and women equally”.

A BBC spokesman said: “Fairness in pay is vital. A significant number of organisations have now published their gender pay figures showing that we are performing considerably better than many and are well below the national average.

“Alongside that, we have already conducted an independent judge-led audit of pay for rank and file staff which showed ‘no systemic discrimination against women’.

“A separate report for on-air staff will be published in the not too distant future.”

BBC Women, a group of more than 150 broadcasters and producers, told The Times that women at various levels of the organisation had made complaints about pay.

“It is hugely regrettable that an outstanding journalist like Carrie Gracie feels she has no option but to resign from her post because the BBC has not valued her equally. Up to 200 women that we know of in various grades and roles have made pay complaints.”

Gracie, who is a China specialist and fluent in Mandarin, said she left her post as China editor last week. She said she would return to the TV newsroom “where I expect to be paid equally”.