Snowden’s Chinese Fans [View all]
June 13, 2013
Posted by Evan Osnos
... Edward Snowden .. is embarking on his own diplomacy ... greeting his new hosts, appealing to Hong Kong to treat him fairly, and offering a sample of his knowledge of U.S. hacking against Chinese targets ...
Offering details about America’s cyber strategy on China may not help him much in American public opinion, but it already has in China. After initially attracting muted attention during a Chinese holiday earlier this week, by Thursday, his case was major news, and Snowden was a popular man here. Mo Shucao flagged me to an online survey that found that seventy-eight per cent of respondents regarded Snowden as a freedom fighter who protects civil liberties. As for how the Chinese government should handle the case, eighty-one per cent supported giving Snowden asylum either to protect him or extract more of the intelligence he is able to leak ...
... In China, the nationalist end of the press corps signaled its support for using Snowden’s status as a chip in negotiations ...
The image of Snowden and Chinese intelligence as a congenial match is hard to picture. He has talked about the “consent of the governed.” He has said, “I believe in freedom of expression,” and, “It is only right that the public form its own opinion.” These statements are not going to endear him to Chinese authorities ...
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2013/06/snowdens-chinese-fans.html
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