Such responses are not entirely surprising in a country where more than a few people cheered the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and where Mr. bin Laden has sometimes been lauded for his willingness to take on the U.S.
Other Weibo commenters, however, appeared happy about Mr. bin Ladens death, partly because the terrorist leaders political agenda was said to pose a direct threat to security in Chinas northwestern territory of Xinjiang.
Thank you America for helping us, wrote user Zhaoling Tongzi, noting Beijings assertion that that the Al Qaeda leader had supported a Muslim separatist movement in Xinjiang. He wasnt a friend. He was an enemy.
On Twitter, which is blocked in China and thus tends to be used mostly by tech-savvy Chinese activists and intellectuals willing to circumvent Chinas Internet censors, many users parsed news of Mr. bin Ladens death through the lens of Chinese politics.
Some countries use 10 years in pursuit of justice while others need 100 years just to discover the definition of justice, Internet entrepreneur Isaac Mao, often described as Chinas first blogger, wrote on his Twitter account in veiled reference to Beijings unwillingness to admit its past political mistakes.
In another oblique reference to Chinese politics, a number of Chinese Twitter users passed around a message reading: Of the ten most evil people in the world, the U.S. has killed one. Now there are nine left.
Nine is the number of members on the Chinese Communist Partys ruling Politburo Standing Committee.
One Chinese Twitter user joked that Mr. bin Ladens death meant the title of worlds top terrorist should go to Fang Binxing, the widely reviled father of Chinas Great Firewall.
In a more analytical vein, former journalist and prominent political blogger Wen Yunchao argued on his Twitter account that the death of Mr. bin Laden would have consequences for Chinas foreign policy.
In the past, the U.S. needed China to join the fight against terrorism and so made more than a few concessions, Mr. Wen wrote. Now that bin Laden is dead, theres one less constraint. The Free World now has more power to encircle China on the issue of universal values.
Twitter didnt have the monopoly on backhanded political commentary. Responding to another users repetition of a conspiracy theory popular on Sina that the U.S. long ago captured Mr. bin Laden and chose to announce it only now to manipulate the American electorate in Mr. Obamas favor, a Weibo user going by the name Xiang Shijie wrote: That makes sense. Americans appear to have thoroughly studied Chinese tactics.
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