A variety of Chinese voices were heard in the wake of the news of the American slaying of Osama Bin Laden. State media reports were muted, netizens tended toward extremes, and nationalist talking heads took the opportunity to attack the United States.
“Deeply mourning Bin Laden. Yet another anti-American hero is lost,” wrote one user on China’s version of Twitter. Many others agreed, according to translations by China Digital Times.
Another wrote simply: “Bin Laden was finally killed by American Army. May all people who died in the 9/11 attack rest in peace.”
Zhang Xin, the director of the China Central Television’s National Security and Military Channel, a state-sponsored platform for nationalist agitation, said in a translation by the New Yorker: “[Bin Laden] chose to challenge the superpower. … Laden was the greatest national hero in Arab history. … Whether Laden is dead for real or not, it’s not important anymore. He has already become a spirit, an anti-American system of thought.”
“Deeply mourning Bin Laden. Yet another anti-American hero is lost,” wrote one user on China’s version of Twitter. Many others agreed, according to translations by China Digital Times.
Another wrote simply: “Bin Laden was finally killed by American Army. May all people who died in the 9/11 attack rest in peace.”
Zhang Xin, the director of the China Central Television’s National Security and Military Channel, a state-sponsored platform for nationalist agitation, said in a translation by the New Yorker: “[Bin Laden] chose to challenge the superpower. … Laden was the greatest national hero in Arab history. … Whether Laden is dead for real or not, it’s not important anymore. He has already become a spirit, an anti-American system of thought.”
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