BEIJING - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao now has a Facebook page.
It's not known who set up the profile that now features Wen's official government photo, but it's clear the premier has some fans - with more than 13,000 "supporters" as of Wednesday. The Chinese government doesn't have the most approachable reputation, but Wen's been praised for his quick and sympathetic response to the May 12 earthquake in central China that's killed more than 67,000 people.
"This is Grandpa Wen Jiabao, hang on child, we will rescue you!" he shouted at one point to a student trapped in the rubble, state media reported.
His Facebook page was set up two days after the quake. It's full of supportive comments and photos of him walking through the rubble and comforting victims.
"I love you, oh my God," Tina Wong of Hong Kong posted.
"A model Premier for the world!" Sukant Chandan of London added.
"It's so great 2 see u here!" Celeste Lee of China said.
The 66-year-old Wen's ability to show up quickly at the site of a disaster - coal mine explosions, snowstorm-blocked railways - and look sympathetic has made him the often distant-seeming Chinese leadership's most popular figure.
Just hours after the 7.9-magnitude quake hit Sichuan province, he was on the scene with a bullhorn. Television cameras followed him for days as he tried to comfort children and put on a hard hat to enter a collapsed building.
"The central government hasn't forgotten about this place. We will rescue those who are injured. If the roads are blocked, we'll use airplanes to lift them out," he said to survivors at the epicenter, Wenchuan.
President Hu Jintao followed Wen's visit to the quake zone with one of his own, but he looked less comfortable and didn't win the kind of warm support the premier did.
A quick check of Facebook shows he doesn't have his own profile, either.
