Chinese Internet Users Urge Their Government To Protect Edward Snowden

NSA whistleblower recently checked out of a hotel in Hong Kong

Hong Kong (CNN) -- Chinese Internet users have come out in strong support of American data leaker Edward Snowden, with many calling on Hong Kong to refuse handing him over to the United States should an extradition request be made.

The former intelligence contractor's presence in Hong Kong, having fled his life in Hawaii in order to leak details of the National Security Agency's Prism surveillance program, has been a hot topic on Chinese micro-blogging site Sina Weibo. Snowden's name was one of the top-ranked current affairs topics on the site, as Internet users discussed the revelations.