'Our government's authority would be undermined if we surrender to pirates, and this would be a disaster for the leaders and the general public. On the other hand, if this crisis can be pro-actively dealt with, it will benefit both our country and China's international relations,' he wrote.

His opinion was echoed by a poster on a Tianya forum. 'China is a major world country and also a permanent member of the UN Security Council, so giving in to terrorism and piracy would make us the laughing stock of the world. When facing the threat of terrorism, did the Western powers surrender?' he wrote.

Some said the incident further justified China's desire to build its own aircraft carrier.

'We should send our own aircraft carrier to patrol in the Indian Ocean and see if the pirates would dare to attack our ships again,' one said.

The nationalist views online may not represent the majority opinion on the mainland. But such sentiment poses a tricky situation for Beijing as it faces letting proud citizens down if it fails to rescue the hostages or has to pay a ransom.

The authorities have said little about the operation to rescue the 25 crew members held hostage on the ship, which Somali pirates seized on Monday.

The Foreign Ministry declined to reveal any information at a regular press briefing yesterday.

The Ministry of Transport has also refused to comment, repeating only via Xinhua that the safety of the crew was the top priority. All Xinhua reported yesterday was that the hijacked ship had enough fuel for a month and plenty of food.

But the authorities seem willing to allow room for profit-driven media outlets to dig into the story to whet the appetites of readers and viewers. This is unlike the situation during the Xinjiang riots and other sensitive incidents, when the propaganda department ordered domestic media to use only Xinhua reports.

The Beijing News ran a full page of reports yesterday with graphics illustrating how the De Xin Hai was taken by the pirates. It also profiled Shan Lianshou, the captain of the De Xin Hai, saying he was a veteran with 30 years sailing experience who was once honoured as 'the most reliable captain' by the Maritime Safety Administration.

In an interview with the Wuhan Evening News, Hao Xiuhua, a veteran sailor with shipping company Cosco Qingdao, said the crew of the De Xin Hai were probably negligent in not being aware that it was being followed by pirate ships and only realised the situation when the pirates came aboard.

Professor Hu Xingdou, of the Beijing Institute of Technology, said Beijing now faced a problem as there was so much uncertainty about the hostages' fate.

'The government wouldn't want too much talk about the hijacking because if they fail to rescue the hostages, this will undermine the public's faith in its ability,' Hu said.

'But if the government doesn't allow people to talk about it at all, people will think it is being cruel to the hostages.'