Would you ‘friend’ Grandpa Wen?

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has always cultivated a populist image, quite unlike most of the Communist Party’s normally aloof leaders. And “Grandpa Wen’s” following only grew after his quick and empathetic response to the Sichuan earthquake. Now, you too, can be one of Grandpa’s friends, on Facebook at least.

One of Wen’s supporters has set up a Facebook profile for him and, as of this writing, he’s approaching 14,000 supporters. There’s not much personal info on the page, though we do learn that the prime minister enjoys Chinese literature and baseball. The New York Times’s Edward Wong writes that it is “unclear who the supporter is that set up the page… and whether he or she has ties to the government.” I would be very suprised if the CCP were behind this since the profile’s message board is basically a magnet for comments like “Tenzin Gyatso > Wen Jia-bao.”

But if you want to believe you’re Facebook-stalking the leader of 1.3 billion people, go right ahead. I’m sticking with Clay Davis.