Facebook Premier: Let 1,000 Comments Bloom

Move over, Obama. Premier Wen Jiabao of China has become an internet celebrity.

Like the pages created for U.S. presidential candidates, a "politician page" for Wen appeared on Facebook two days after the May 12 earthquake in China. As of today, he has more than 16,000 supporters.

Wen's page includes a headshot of the 66 year-old premier, biographical text in a mix of Chinese and English, discussion groups, a comment wall, as well as fan videos and photos featuring Wen's reaction to the quake.

The Chinese official has been singled out because of his exceptionally sympathetic response to the earthquake in China's Sichuan province that killed more than 67,000 people; he was on the scene hours after the disaster struck, and stayed on hand for days.

That's in stark contrast to the stiff President Hu Jintao, who typical of Chinese leaders, hasn't distinguish himself through displays of compassion.

But the most interesting element of Wen's page is its comment wall, which currently has more than1,250 posts (and counting) and has emerged as yet another forum for fierce disagreement over China.

The majority of the posts reflect vocal and often eerily intense Chinese patriotism and support of Wen and from a wide variety of Facebook users from around the world.

"Premier Wen, we are so proud of you," writes Tracy Chen of Bellevue, Washington.

Mandy Fu writes, "I'm your superfan! Support you, and love my country! Oh yeah!"

"Wen Jia-bao is my homeboy," says Gabriel Butler from UCLA.

The posts go on and on.

Much of the commentary is decidedly less positive, as criticism of Wen, rants about the Chinese government, and support for Tibet stir up a familiar debate in just one more venue.

"Good to hear about Wen helping the victims of the earthquake," writes Greg Barclay. "Now I wish he would speak up for the Christians that are being imprisoned and tortured in China,"

The intense and endless support for Wen and China has also led to questions about the origins of the page.

A commenter identified as "Bob Bob" writes, "Wow, the Chinese propaganda machine is in full swing! I can't tell the difference between genuine supporters or flat-out propaganda writings. Either way, I won't fall for the lies."

"I am just aware of this site through New York Times. I feel a little funny that they guess that maybe the government set up this site....," says Bright King of Peking University, before tactically continuing.

"The country is lucky to have such good leaders."

Liz Gunnison