Chinese Bloggers Mourn Loss of "Hero"

Aw, poor babies.

[Rubs thumb and index finger together].

That's me playing the World's Smallest Violin for them.

In the hours immediately following U.S. President Barack Obama’s announcement that Osama bin Laden had been killed, Chinese Internet users appeared torn over how to react to the news.

While some celebrated, many others mourned the loss of a “hero.” Still others seized on the terrorist mastermind’s death as an opportunity to offer veiled comment on conditions at home.

Rumors of Mr. bin Laden’s death began to spread on Sina Weibo, China’s most active microblogging service, at least an hour before Mr. Obama’s speech, with messages of shock and disbelief giving way, in many cases, to expressions of regret at the Al Qaeda founder’s passing.

“Deeply mourning Bin Laden,” wrote Weibo user Jiajia Nuwu in comments echoed widely across the site. “Yet another anti-American hero is lost.”

What, is there a shortage of anti-American heroes out there? We do still have Bill Ayers, Julian Assange, and Michael Moore, ya know.

Not to mention the MSNBC prime-time lineup.

Oh well. At least some of our Chinese friends are glad to see bin Laden go - even if they do have a funny way of expressing their joy.

“Is this real? Excellent!” wrote another. “Now the only terrorist left is the United States!”

Cross-posted.