China: Tribute to the leader of 50 cent party · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

This afternoon (April 22) Wu Hao (伍皓), the deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Party Committee of Yunnan Province had a talk in People's University. Before Wu started his talk, a 25-year-old netizen approached him and greeted him with a pile of 50-cent notes.
According to online news website cdqss, the university graduate exchange 30 yuan notes into 50-cent notes in the bank in early morning and attended Wu's talk. He said that the notes are “tribute” to Wu Hao.
Mozhixu posted the photos on twitter:
So Who is Wu Hao? And why so many Chinese netizens are finger pointing at him?
Wu won his reputation in the Internet last year in the Eluding the Cat or “hide-and-seek” incident. In an interview with Southern Metropolis Daily, he explained his strategy in intervening the online public opinion.
In Eluding the Cat incident, Wu invited netizens to help investigating the detainee's death. However, netizens soon found out that the two chosen investigators were actually member of “50 cent party” (government hired web commentators). (via China digital times) David Bandurski from the China Media Project termed such kind of manipulation Control 2.0. And Wu Hao has established his position as a leader of 50 cents.
Chinese twitterers use #wuhaowumao to discuss the incident. Some are in celebratory mood, some express reservation. Below is a selection of the comments:
wkworz 我觉得扔五毛钱纸币给伍皓，没有大把大把的扔五毛钱硬币来的解气 #wuhaowumao
earthengine基本上，我是反对把伍皓当五毛看的。原因很简单，任何国家甚至企业都会有政府发言人，他们的网上言论只要公开表明代表谁谁谁，都属于言论自由。可恶的只是那些冒充普通网友而暗地里收钱发言的五毛 #wuhaowumao
elaoda 伍皓是五毛的领导，不是五毛。
pku_yule 1、不扔五毛，支持你的人仍然会支持你。扔了五毛，不支持你的人只会更不支持你。2、言论表达要有边界，不能演变成对他人的攻击和侮辱。3、尊重人权是不分对象的，和这个人的善恶无关。4、重申一下，反对一切扔鞋、扔五毛行为，不论扔的是谁。
muzik 真理部妄图用五毛埋葬真理，今天，第一次有人用五毛埋葬真理部。 #wuhaowumao
Finikz 我认为五毛事件是抗议性的行为艺术，并非针对其个人；正如向布什扔鞋扔鸡蛋一样，扔的不是布什。 #wuhaowumao
johumou 用调皮形容今天的活动，再恰当不过了. #wuhaowumao
keazhu 天朝决定从明天开始禁止五毛纸币流通。 #wuhaowumao
anti_censorship 刚看到这推，心理一阵解气。但忽然又纠结起来，如果大家认可这种行为，如果下次艾未未演讲，有爱国青年跑过来，抛出一堆美分呢？ #wuhaowumao
dowlare @wangzhongxia 有人说仍5毛这种行为不应该，我倒是觉得作为有血性的人，不可能只有理智的行动。5毛仍了，推友们看到了，感受到了，这就是有意义的影响。理智的太多，热血到敢于行动的却太少。 #wuhaowumao
freeandwind #wuhaowumao 伍皓这个人，是我挺敬重的一位官员。共产党的政府里出这么一个异类不容易，更何况是宣传口的干部。扔他就代表自己是正确的，就说明自己是民主人士，是代表公平和正义的一方？