Kai Fu Lee
CEO at Innovation Works
If you think Prism has made a mess in the US, you should see the reaction in China:
1. The overall tone was very clear – microbloggers were angry about the perceived hypocrisy, they were sympathetic to Snowden, and they were disillusioned about the US as a democratic role model.
2. Many microbloggers showed concern for the Chinese First Lady, who was photographed to be using an iPhone during her visit to the US. The microbloggers asked “Would the US government access her private data through Apple’s iCloud?”
3. Hardliners gained an upper hand, and pushed to question: Whatever happened to protecting human rights? How can you trust this hypocrite? Does this demonstrate that the system of democracy, “checks and balances”, “due process” and “rule of law” has failed?
4. Quite a few netizens called Snowden a hero. Netizens eagerly discussed and admired how he gave up a $200,000 salary and a beautiful girlfriend. They even gossiped about his modeling career and his good looks.
5. 81% of the microbloggers supported China to offer Snowden asylum, and only 3% supported extraditing him back to the US.