Opinion | Snowden revelations divide 'left' and 'right' in China

China’s nationalists, thrilled by revelations made by whistleblower Edward Snowden,  attacked the country’s liberals and "advocates of western values" on Thursday, accusing them of posing a greater threat to China’s national security than Snowden does to the US.

Zhang Hongliang, a professor at Minzu University of China known for his hawkish views, compared China’s so-called “public intellectuals” to “traitors”.

“Most of our public intellectuals have done much more harm to China than Snowden has done to the US,” he said, “But they not only evade punishment, but even get to attack the country's patriots everyday.”

Zhang urged China to track down these liberal ''traitors.”

“Until China hunts down anti-Maoists, anti-communists, and anti-Chinese, only then will it achieve its national revival,” he wrote.

“How could you equate anti-communists with anti-Chinese,” a microblogger argued, “And don’t forget all the 'traitors'  living in the big houses in Los Angeles are communist cadres, not public intellectuals. ”