Open Internet Vs. Despotical Regime: Political Construction and Internet Development in China

• Main Authors: Wei ,Tse-Min, 魏澤民
• Other Authors: Li ,Ying-Min
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/63154875676145775324

博士 === 國立政治大學 === 東亞研究所 === 95 === Since the 1980s, the country has entered the state of IT development with the introduction of Informational Capitalism/ Digital Capitalism and the national function and organizational construction have been led to continuous adjustments. These were the necessary change to comply with informational technique reform. It was surrounded with IT development and for political, economic and social lives, they formed a network because of the existence of IT paragon and the surrounding of IT. The network had no regular boundary and constantly recombined which revealed totally different influence on our traditional logic understanding social development. Network logic gradually became the mainstream in social lives. After facilitating the reform and liberation, China was influenced by the air of Informational capitalism/Digital Capitalism and it must manage the observation under this network. In other words, it was no longer based on traditional political orientation; instead, it was the observation combing the dimensions such as politics, economy, society and culture. This paper used the research channel of neo-Institutionalism as the start to explore the political construction of Internet development in China and employed the research methods such as document analysis, Content analysis and Participant observation to support the study. First of all, as to the explanatory aspects, the paper tried to understand if China’s selection to develop Internet was to respond to international environment development or for the policy of reform and liberation. The paper then explored the influences from the whole international environment to the domestic environment of China on Internet development in China. Secondly, the researcher found out the major actors. The major actors in this research were the Internet policy makers of China (national/the political elite of the Communist Party of China). The paper tried to understand how the one-party dictatorial government of China established Internet development policy. Thirdly, the researcher analyzed the actors’ resources. So-called resources meant the human resource of China for developing Internet, including the human deployment of national institutions and the number of Internet users; material resources included information-based construction scale; mobilization capacity included the ability of Chinese leaders, degree of control, social movement and the legitimacy of ideology. The change of these resources usually would influence the establishment, maintenance and declination of the system during the process of Internet development in China. Fourthly, the paper explored the relations among the actors. From legal aspects, we can realize Chinese influence on the political construction process of Internet development. Through these regulations, we can find out the institutional relation between the Chinese Communists and people on Internet. However, we can further discuss the actors’ reaction to these regulations. Did they rebel against or follow it? Fifthly, the researcher evaluated the influence of these institutional relations on explanatory aspects. After we understand the institutional relations among the actors from the actual administrative and legal aspects, we have to find out the institutional relations between international and domestic environments and political construction of Internet development in China under the framework of Internet development in China. Finally, the researcher proposed the research findings, limitations and suggestions for future studies. The basic content of this paper mainly consists of the following 6 chapters: Chapter Introduction: the researcher initially proposed the hypotheses, by treating Internet as a kind of media and using the models of dominant media and pluralism media upon Centrifugal/Centripetal situations of Internet development in China, allocated four assumption views and further proposed the research questions Secondly, the researcher proposed the research methods such as neo-Institutionalism, document analysis, Content analysis and Participant observation to collectively construct the framework of theoretical analysis. Finally, the researcher reviewed and reorganized the Chinese and English literatures with respect to the research definitions of Internet society and Chinese Internet development. Chapter 2 discusses the development and application of Chinese informationalism and Internet. The analysis indicated that after the Cultural Revolution, China faced the capitalism system based on Western informationalism and it was the accelerated IT-based global trend. China successfully transformed from nationalism into capitalism led by the country and was integrated in the global economic network. Under the wave of informationalism (NII,GII), the informational development strategies facilitated by China was not the way of Western countries—first industrialization and then informationalism and it did not directly promote informationalism and eliminate industrialization; instead, China fulfilled the Late-Developing Advantage and combined industrialization and informationalism to promote the upgrading of industry structure and carry out cross-development of national economy. Thus, Internet became the key of informational development of China. Chapter 3 is the social structure analysis of Chinese Internet users. According to statistical report of the Internet development research center acknowledged by official and private institutions at present, “CNNIC”, the researcher adopted the historical statistical survey data of Internet development announced by “CNNIC” from 1999 to 2006 to compare and analyze the developing trends of social scale and behavioral characteristics of Internet users. Chapter 4 discusses the Chinese control over Internet. The researcher clearly analyzed the reasons, principles of Chinese control of Internet, the development of systems, actual acts and legal regulations First of all, besides the negative effects caused by information flow (such as porno spreading, gambling, drugs, virus spreading, fraud and hackers), the reasons for Chinese to control Internet in political aspect also included liberal Internet information (Mainland China and the world) transmission and peace development and the threat of Internet colonialism. Secondly, China was the country of one-party governance of Leninism and it did not allow the Internet development to go beyond the limit of its authority. Therefore, as to control principle, the overall principles of Chinese control over Internet were active development, management enhancement, approaching benefits and avoiding disadvantages. Thirdly, Chinese Internet control system was basically related to information industry development. The evolution could be divided into three regimes: the first was the Experimental Era Regime before 1994; the second was the Transitional Regulatory Regime from 1994 to 1998; the third was the Ministry of Information Industry established from the original Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and Ministry of Electronics Industry upon the resolution of the 9th Chinese National People’s Congress in 1998. Fourthly, as to control Internet strategies, the message flow methods of control Internet could be allocated into two kinds: “Non-Technological Internet Censorship Strategies” and “Technological Internet Censorship Strategies”. As to actual Internet control, it could be divided into 12 kinds, including Internet network control and the selection of screening software, fire wall, software and hardware control of Internet techniques, national workers’ supervision on content, establishment of report phone call and website, recruitment of Internet critic to lead on-line discussion, practice of on-line name system, requirement on domestic and oversea technology companies to assist with Internet control, installation of Internet police, control over Internet bars, expansion on official and Chinese networks, controlling the Internet users’ browsing on oversea Internet information by prices, Internet morality promotion and self-discipline of industry. Fifthly, there were the lawmaking permission divisions of central unified leading and certain degrees of right division, multi-level co-existence and multiple combinations in Internet regulations. Chapter 5 presents the challenge and influence of the rise of Internet on Chinese governing ability. First of all, the researcher analyzed the reasons of declining governing ability of China since the reform and liberation, including unstable social structure, deeper social contradictory and declining party and the government administration. Secondly, the researcher analyzed the challenge of Internet transmission on Chinese governing ability, including Internet transmission breaking through “public opinion as a whole” of Chinese control and the construction of influencing the ideology of Communist Party. Finally, the researcher analyzed the influence of the rise of Internet on Chinese democratization under Chinese governance and analyzed through three statement angles generally existed in academia (positivie view,negative view and skeptical view ). Chapter 6 is the conclusion: Firstly, as to research findings, the researcher cited Wei Wu’s proposal of 7 disadvantages of Chinese Internet development when he observed the Internet developing situation of China in 1996 to manage the examination and reflection on overall study. Secondly, as to research limitation and review, the researcher managed the analysis of research limitation and review with respect to research literature collection, Internet development and the closeness of Chinese regime. Thirdly, with regard to suggestions for future studies, the researcher proposed the suggestions for future study issues and directions with respect to theoretical analysis framework and reflection of research methods. In the studies of academia, there were totally different views (positivie view, negative view and skeptical view ) with respect to the transformation of virtual characteristics presented by Internet and realistic political power and if Internet can further become the tool to transform Chinese one-party tyrannical power such Chinese tyrannical regime. However, one thing can be sure is that Internet functioned with respect to the liberation of China; nevertheless, it was helpful for China’s legalization of their governing ability. The key is in that if the reform and liberation of China will continue and if the scope will keep on expanding. What we can expect is that with the increase of reform and liberation in China and advancement of social and economic development, the people generally can use Internet under economic and knowledgeable condition and even they have difficulty to acquire the ownership of information resources and are limited to Chinese control and dominance, it also shows that the pattern of Chinese Internet control is breaking down. The writer believes that Internet development of China will be based on impersonal relationships instead of carried out by ownership relationships and the individual will be empowered with capacities. Through the general use of Internet, Chinese people will be liberated from Chinese one-party authority and Internet will become the catalysis accelerating the peaceful revolution of democratization in China.