中國大陸網際網路發展對其民主化之研究 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學亞太研究英語碩士學位學程 International Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies College of Social Sciences National Chengchi University. 碩士論文政治. 大. 立Master’s Thesis. ‧. ‧ 國. 學 sit. y. Nat. Research on impact of China’s internet development on. er. io. n. al democratization of China iv Ch. n U engchi. Student:張宏輔 Advisor:陳陸輝. 中華民國 101 年 3 月 March 2012 . ‐ 1 ‐.

(2) Thesis Topic Research on impact of China’s internet development on democratization of China. 研究生：張宏輔. Student: Chang, Hung Fu. 指導教授：陳陸輝. Advisor: Chen, Lu heui. 國立政治大學. 亞太研究英語碩士學程. 學. ‧ 國. 立. 政治大. Nat. sit. y. ‧. 碩士論文. A Thesis. er. io. n. Submittedatol International Master’s i vProgram. n U engchi in Asia-Pacific Studies. Ch. National Chengchi University In partial fulfillment of the Requirement For the degree of Master in Asia-Pacific Studies. 中華民國 101 年 3 月 (March 2012) . ‐ 1 ‐.

(3) Abstract With rapid development of internet, it not only brings landmark revolution impact to the global media but also makes people’s lives great changes. Relative to China, development of internet also provides a new communication tool and information channels, but also offers a variety of media into Chinese society.. Thus,. with the advent of a new era of internet, it can be said that the Chinese social and political system have more challenges.. Therefore on the one hand how China. authorities strengthen the internet monitoring and management to avoid becoming a. 政治大 also by controlling the internet to carry out its political advocacy work has become the 立. way for the international community conducting "peaceful evolution" in China, and. most significant problems.. ‧ 國. 學. Through collecting relevant literatures and analyzing China’s current internet. ‧. control, this study will explore internet development in China and its impact for. sit. y. Nat. democratization, and the impact for CCP facing internet development. So as to. io. democratization.. er. make readers can basically understand China’s internet development and its. al. . n. v i n C h and democratization Keywords: China, internet, information, engchi U. ‐ 2 ‐.

(4) TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction ...............................................................................................4 Section 1 Motivation and Purpose......................................................................4 Section 2 Research Methodology and Framework ...........................................6 Chapter 2 Literature Review ......................................................................................9 Chapter 3 China Internet Control Status Analysis ................................................17 Section 1 China's Internet Control Mechanisms and Measures ...................17. 治政大 on Internet ................35 Section 3 China's Control Methods and Obstruction 立 Chapter 4 Analysis of Effects on Democratization .................................................41 Section 2 Relationship between Internet and Democracy..............................30. ‧ 國. 學. Section 1 Impact and Issue of Internet on China Regime..............................41. ‧. Section 2 Impact of Internet on the Democracy of China..............................46 Chapter 5 Conclusion ................................................................................................55. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. sit. References...................................................................................................................62. . Ch. engchi. ‐ 3 ‐. i n U. v.

(5) Chapter 1 Introduction In entering the 21st century, internet development with information digitization is one of China’s key policies for prosperity by science and education. In today's China, expressions on the internet are increasingly vibrant. More and more information propagates through the network media. As the impact of Internet media is more and more significant on the political situation, China authorities began to spend effort in banning “negative” speech and information. Therefore, this study aims to. 政治大 China.” By the so-called impact on “democratization”, the author tries to construct the 立 explore and analyze the “impact of China internet development on democratization of. ‧ 國. 學. development path of China internet from a macro point of view, that is, to start with the inspection of impact on its communist regime from the aspects of national. ‧. consciousness and network democracy so as to explore the possibility of. sit. y. Nat. democratization in China. This chapter, as a beginning, mainly describes the. io. al. er. motivation and purpose, as well as methodology and structure of the research, as. n. respectively stated in the following.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Section 1 Motivation and Purpose I. Research Motivation With rapid development of internet in China, the degree that the internet affects people’s ways of life and thinking is enhancing. If it is determined that human society has entered the network as arbitrary, the various degrees of impact on. . ‐ 4 ‐.

(6) democratic development of many nations due to internet development that evolves the “internet democracy” cannot be neglected whether in theory or practice. This thesis mainly studies the internet development in China, the view of China regime on the influence of internet on democracy, and the impact on the political power, and explores the ability of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to intervene the internet on the basis of “national capacity”. With that the study of China internet development is actually necessary for the influence on the democratization of China, how the “democratic” ideas evolved by rapid internet development in China will. 政治大. ultimately develop? Will it promote the democracy of China to be realized, or will. 立. the CCP suppress the agenda of democracy by its regulation on internet and speech. ‧ 國. 學. or even strengthen its sovereignty by the control of internet?. ‧. II. Research Purpose. sit. y. Nat. Internet development affects human cultural aspects in a wide range, in that. n. al. er. io. politics, economy, society, and humanities all interact with the internet. For example,. i n U. v. the presence of Falun Gong phenomenon that impacted political development of. Ch. engchi. China because messages were rapidly transmitted and influence expanded. As the internet rises by the development of modern technology, it becomes more difficult for the CCP to control people’s behavior and thinking. For example, the Falun Gong created a global spread. It is likely whether groups of various natures will use the property of internet to appeal. Moreover, worth considering are the globe concerns on the impact of the democratization of China and a variety of issues it may derive. The main purpose of this study is to explore internet development in China and the influence of the thriving interlinked network on the democratization of China. Research purpose is summarized as follows:. . ‐ 5 ‐.

(7) A. To explore the profile of internet development in China; analyze the development of internet in China, as well as policy and regulation of internet speech; and illustrate the relationship between internet and democracy B. To disclose the current status of internet control in China; analyze internet control mechanisms and characteristics, control factors, internet obstruction, and control scope; and opportunities and constraints in practice.. 治政大 on China regime; how to China; analyze impact and issue of internet 立 develop network democracy; and challenge and impact on China. C. To discuss influence of China internet development on democratization of. ‧ 國. 學. democracy. ‧. Section 2 Research Methodology and Framework. sit. y. Nat. io. al. er. The study on the influence of internet on democratization of China focuses on. n. static documentary analysis of facts, supplemented by the dynamic of historical research.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. I. Literature Review Relevant documents must be collected for the study on the influence of internet on democratization of China as auxiliary means, especially files of China internet regulation and policy. Empirical research is difficult to proceed for the research objectives associated with internet. Henceforth, data mainly come from collection of relevant literatures, journal articles, research reports, as well as China government files and regulations. A part of the data is from published strategic policies and government reports or documents. In addition, the author also refers to translated . ‐ 6 ‐.

(8) relevant oversea documents as well as essays and reports about internet development in China by experts of the United States, United Kingdoms, and other nations that are translated periodically as importance sources. By examination or comparison at different perspectives, the study can obtain objective arguments without too much bias or exaggeration.. II. Historical Approach The purpose of this study method is to describe historical facts and reconstruct. 治政 method used in this paper, the author expects to make大 historical review by cases that 立 show influence of democratization by internet development such that the Chinese. the past from causal relationship in individual historical facts. With this research. ‧ 國. 學. communist regime can no longer find excuses to reject democracy. The research. ‧. method is employed as necessary in other chapters for discussion of historical effects, such as, the evolution of speech protection in network democracy, the evolution of the. y. Nat. er. io. sit. reaction on network controls, and so on, supplemented by theoretical analysis of internet diffusion on why the wave of democratization causes a new trend in world. al. n. politics.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. III. Outline of the Thesis This chapter mainly describes research motivation and purpose of this study, and builds framework, besides to define the scope and concept for this study, mainly consists of the following four chapters: Chapter 2 describes the profile of internet development in China and explores the origin and process of internet development in China, regulations on internet speech, and relation between network and democracy.. . ‐ 7 ‐.

(9) Chapter 3 explains the present status of internet control in China, the phenomenon of social participation and democratization over the network characteristics, and formation of control based on political factors and ideology. In this chapter, the author analyzes policies that China uses to control internet, discusses reasons for the internet control, as well as the controls and restrictions. Chapter 4 analyzes the impact of internet development on China. In this chapter, the author discusses the influence of internet development on democratization of China, as well as issues arising from the network, and discusses internet infrastructure. 政治大. and network control policy, as well as the special characteristics of the phenomenon. 立. and changes in internet development.. ‧ 國. 學. Chapter 5 makes conclusion and recommendation. In this chapter, the author. development.. ‧. illustrates challenges to the sovereignty of CCP resulting from the internet. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. . Ch. engchi. ‐ 8 ‐. i n U. v.

(10) Chapter 2 Literature Review Internet in China was established in 1987. On 20 September 1987, under the guidance of professors Wang Yun Feng of Beijing Institute of Computer Application and Werner Zorn of University of Karlsruhe, West Germany, the first connection was established between China and the external world. Under the development in more than twenty years, internet has become an emerging cultural phenomenon in China like in the west. Internet development was one of the important subjects for. 政治大 Program” was regarded as the 立. government policy implementation and national development in China. Meanwhile, the “Tenth Five-Year. blue print for “overall. ‧ 國. 學. deployment of China’s reform for opening and construction for modernization”. In the literature review of the chapter, the author explores relevant literatures in China’s. ‧. internet policy and regulation as well as the relationship between internet and. sit. y. Nat. democracy to gradually expand the research framework of this study, so as to provide. io. n. al. er. theoretical basis of hypothesis.. i n U. Ch. v. China's Policy and RegulationeonnInternet g c h i Development Led by the waves of National Information Infrastructure and Global Information Infrastructure (NII & GII), China promoted its information development strategic, which did not follow the path of western countries – industrialization and then informatization, neither did it directly boost information technology by skipping industrialization. Rather, taking the advantage of backwardness, it combined industrialization and information technology to upgrade industrial structure and realized the leap of national economy. Thus, internet became the core of China’s information technology development. . ‐ 9 ‐.

(11) I. The Origin of Internet in China On 20 April 1994, China’s first 64K international line was connected to the world-wide internet. China formally entered world-wide internet and became one of the nations that possess full-featured internet. Facing the major trend of inter-network connection, China opened its business portal for national survival, after experiencing the chaos of extreme left in the ten-year culture revolution, and initiatively connected itself with the world economy.. 治政大China’s first email, opening infrastructure. In 1987, Professor Qian Tian Bai sent out 立 the prelude to China’s internet.. Moreover, to strengthen socialist market economy, China launched internet. 1. ‧ 國. 學. With China government's investment in network infrastructure, coupled with. ‧. continued influx of foreign capital after the opening reform, the Chinese people’s. sit. y. Nat. standards of living and knowledge have improved dramatically. The number of. n. al. er. io. internet users has also surged over the years. The gradual rise of China’s network has. i n U. v. led the emergence of a new domain of speech in China’s society. In receiving. Ch. engchi. messages on the internet, China’s network users also participate in and interact with the discussions and express their opinions, especially by political discussion and criticism on national affairs. That has resulted in impact that cannot be neglected on the leadership authority of the CCP.. II. China’s Internet Development The CCP indicated in the report of the seventeenth people’s representative conference: it insists that all rights of the nation belong to the people; it should expand                                                         1. Xinhuanet News: China's Internet Domain Road, Publish December 13th 2002, http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/it/2002-12/13/content_659098.htm. . ‐ 10 ‐.

(12) people’s orderly participation of politics from all levels and in all areas, mobilize and organize the people to manage national affairs and social affairs as well as economic and cultural undertakings according to law. Apparently, internet has become a means for the public to participate in politics. However, one problem that can not be overlooked is that some local officials do not adapt to the advent of an internet era, some turn a blind eye to the public network, and some even forcefully suppress internet speech by administrative means. On 30 June 2009, a survey by China Internet Network Information Center. 政治大. (CNNIC) showed that information plurality and democracy for the China internet. 立. users had created challenges to the governance of the CCP. The main channels on. ‧ 國. 學. which China internet users rely to access to information (messages) are search engines and network news. The search engines are important entrances for users to access to. ‧. information and have profound impact on user behaviors. Data showed 79%. Nat. sit. y. utilization rate of network news. An investigation found that, through the Beijing. n. al. er. io. Olympics, the Wen-Chuan Earthquake, and other major news events, network has. i n U. become one of the most convenient tools in watching news.. . Ch. engchi. ‐ 11 ‐. v.

(13) 政治大. 立. ‧ 國. 學. Figure 1: China’s internet population in December 2011. ‧. Source: CNNIC. sit. y. Nat. On 16 January 2012, CNNIC published the “29th Statistical Report on Internet. n. al. er. io. Development in China.” The data showed that, as of December 2011, netizens in. i n U. v. China reached 513 millions. Internet penetration was further improved, reaching. Ch. engchi. 38.3%. The report showed due to the expansion of 3G business, China experienced rapid growth in the number of mobile phone users and it reached 356 millions, accounting for 69.3% of total Internet users. Mobile internet has become a new growth point for internet users, an increase of 52.85 million people a year. Ranked in top five on utilization of network applications in 2011 were search engine (79.6%), instant messaging (79.4%), web music (78.7%), web news (74.7%), and blog space (65.5%). Where increase in commercial trading applications was a “dark horse”, the fastest-growing was the scale of users in business transaction applications, with average annual growth rate reaching 68%. In 2011, transactions of online shopping. . ‐ 12 ‐.

(14) market in China will be reached 760 billions RMB. The online shopping market in 2011 would usher in greater expansion to 193 millions users. Table 1 shows 2010-2011 China Internet Development Statistics. Table 1 2010-2011 China Internet Development Statistics. Data time. 2010/6. 2011/6. 2011/12. Internet population. 420 millions. 485 millions. 513 millions. 政治大 364 millions 389 millions 立. Size of broadband. Mobile Internet population. 276 millions. 317 millions. 391 millions. 學. ‧ 國. internet users. 356 millions. ‧. Source: adapted from CNNIC for the present study. sit. y. Nat. io. n. al. er. III. China’s Internet Policy and Speech Norms. i n U. v. Network policy interacts with speech regulation. On one hand, network policy. Ch. engchi. intervenes in network speech; on the other hand, the intervention causes rebound of network speech against network policy. The two are in a relation of pulling each other. Facing internet development, how China shifts the role and capacity of network policy and speech, how it weighs the equilibrium between development and control with the relationship between China’s network policy and speech. The following summarizes relevant literatures and describes these points respectively. China government always regards the media as “national apparatus of ideology” and closely monitors the media from newspapers, radio, to television. Although internet many characteristics out of the reach of traditional media, the government, . ‐ 13 ‐.

(15) by means of technical regulation, still controls outbound connection from domestic users and inbound contents from foreign countries. The orientation of policy could be induced from the internet policy specified by the CCP. The CCP, having emphasized ruling by laws in recent years, has legislated rules to control internet. More than twenty regulations have been cooked back and forth, with main contents in national guidance and security, to stop harmful information against the Chinese Communist regime and the nation2 .. 治政大public media. However, the effectively blockades foreign information by restraining 立 emergence of internet provided people in China a new communication tools and. In order to facilitate the control of domestic ideology as necessary, the CCP. ‧ 國. 學. information platform. Nonetheless, the CCP did not set laissez-faire flow of network. ‧. information and speech, and responded with implementation of associated network control, including development of various regulations, establishment of network. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. screening system 3 .. sit. police for investigation of illegal internet contents, and installation of information. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Presently, the Chinese communist regime is actively developing Chinese computer programs and internet system as countermeasures against easy access of China’s information system. In the “Tenth Five-Year Program”, the Chinese communist regime set up blue prints of continuous information infrastructure. On 08 December 2009, Wang Chen, director of the Council Information Office of China, expressed the need of new demands in adaptation of new changes to respond the challenge of network security and strengthen the awareness of network security from                                                         2. Wang, Ya Hui (2002), “A Study of Chin’s Internet Control – Exploration by Political Dimensions”, master’s thesis, Graduate Institute of Mainland China Studies, Chinese Culture University, p74 3 Cai, Shang Zhe (2008), “Analysis of Citizen’s Participation in Internet Forums in China – the ‘Xiamen PX Project’ as an Example”, master's thesis, Graduate Institute of Political Economy, National Cheng Kung University, unpublished . ‐ 14 ‐.

(16) the altitude of national security, information security, and cultural security that China would promote information flow and maintain network security, enhance influence and credibility of network media, construct healthy and civilized as well as safe and orderly network environment, and walk out a way for inter-internet development with Chinese characteristics 4 . With the booming of internet in China, people were brought with new speech space. Not only did internet liberate long-time suppressed freedom of speech, but it also provided a major driving force for the formation of civil society in China. Facing. 政治大. various difficult issues created after the internet development, the China leadership. 立. regime had not set it laissez-faire for freedom of development due to fear of losing the. ‧ 國. 學. important battle ground of public speech on internet. Rather, it made the internet space as a means and another tool of announcing public policies to extend its territory. ‧. of political power. Particularly, the main editors of various internet blogs and forums. Nat. sit. y. should be noted in a timely manner to delete illegal and immoral statements. If the. n. al. er. io. obligation was not fulfilled, service providers should bear legal responsibility.. Ch. i n U. v. Hence, it is appropriate to develop policies for the Chinese public sentiment.. engchi. Although China has preliminarily formed a law system with regulations on freedom of expression based on Constitution, the National Security Act, the National Secrets Law, Computer and Information System Security Protection Ordinance, Interim Provisions on the Management of Electronic Publications, and Criminal Law, the system is not complete. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance legislation and develop correspondent policies under the premises that citizens are fully protected with freedom of speech and the right shall not be abused, such that the government has a “legal basis” in addressing emerging issues and from the legal aspects protects                                                         4. . quoted from Economic Information Daily, 08 December 2009 ‐ 15 ‐.

(17) citizens for the exercise of freedom of speech online and maintains other relevant rights for the others. Overview the China's Internet policy orientation, we can conclude that a concept is to develop and control in parallel. Through the layers of strict management, control and check, the Internet can be guided to the direction of development in its planning and norms. The decree announced time-intensive, the speed and quantity can be said is the only one in the world.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. . Ch. engchi. ‐ 16 ‐. i n U. v.

(18) Chapter 3 China Internet Control Status Analysis In recent years, China has established Internet Society of China to incorporate a variety of internet enterprises and initiated self-regulated actions with establishment of reporting mechanism. The organization was expected to act as an agency to proceed with new management mechanism for increasing internet users. However, the CCP has not rid itself of the dilemma between internet control and development. This chapter will describe China’s internet control status.. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Section 1 China's Internet Control Mechanisms and Measures. ‧ sit. y. Nat. Because network communication, as the global view it exhibited, consist of. io. er. borderless, decentralized, anonymous, private, and convenient characteristics, it has. al. v i n Ch governance of the CCP. New challenges i Usuch as crime prevention at the e n gcame c h up, n. certain extent influence on the communist social system under the authoritarian. network; the rise of various types of “blog editors” “podcasters” because network population was increased, and thus participation in democratic discussion. Issues such as internet management rules, internet content control, and regulation to internet service suppliers were also challenges to the governing authority of the CCP. Meanwhile, they affected national security of China as well. These are difficult issued when China implemented internet control.. . ‐ 17 ‐.

(19) I. Internet Regulations In 1994, when the initial National Council promulgated the “PRC Computer Information System Security Protection Ordinance”, China began to enact laws and rules for the management of network. Since 1995, it opened the network for private use. The legal norms for China’s internet control are based mainly on China’s internet regulations and discussion of implementation aspects for the regulations. Particularly highlighted are functional overlap among implementation agencies that contain one another and internet-control related issues.. 治政 In comparison, however, China’s internet law is大 quite advanced: So far, it has 立 issued a total number of about 60 acts by the central government and numerous other ‧ 國. 學. internet regulations, which is hard to count, by local governments. The 60 acts cover. ‧. many important aspects of network management, including virus, copyright, electronic publication, domain name registration, suppliers, and management of. y. Nat. er. io. sit. internet sites on the outer rim, such as internet cafes. In view of coverage, China’s regulations in network management are peculiarly progressive and comprehensive.. al. n. v i n Chinese authorities fear theCloss ownership and the positions of public U h eof nInternet i h gc. opinion, in recent years, a number of measures taken by the Chinese authorities control the spread of Internet information.. These measures could be divided into. four main categories: A. To develop the dissemination of information and Internet-related laws and regulations. B. To strengthen the crackdown on illegal online speech, to prevent invasion of. . ‐ 18 ‐.

(20) inside and outside hostile forces to its information boundaries. C. To expand the official control information boundaries, to support the official news websites, such as Xinhua, increasing in line with the official position of the information. D. To develop Internet filtering software and to force Internet users to install by behalf of the Government to monitor their behavior to prevent political sensitive. 政治大. information, to increase the Internet monitor efforts.. 立. In recent years, after the social information becoming Internet information, it has. ‧ 國. 學. forced Chinese authorities to vigorously control Internet information.. In February. ‧. 2006 Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology(MIIT) launched a one-year project “Sunshine Green Internet Project”, 5 promulgated “Internet e-mail. y. Nat. io. sit. management approach”, the “Internet e-mail report receiving center” was formally. n. al. er. established, it cooperated with the major telecom operators, to establish the mobile. Ch. i n U. v. phone users real-name system, designed to bind Internet and mobile phone spam and information.. engchi. In May 2007 the Chinese MIIT and other functional departments with. the major media, telecom operators set up to combat Internet pornography, the special action program of work, to carry out clean-up Internet access, and to combat with the closure of the illegal dissemination of pornography and sexual services and telecommunications providers. 6 The implementation of these control measures was purified the Internet environment..                                                         5 6. . China starts "Sunshine Green Internet Project",http://www.china.com.cn/chinese/EC-c/1130078.htm MIIT, “Notification about to set up special action to Internet pornography”, May 11th, 2007, no.231. ‐ 19 ‐.

(21) Furthermore, the China’s “Internet audio-visual program service management requirements”, which was applied from January 31st 2008, also requires prior permission for internet audio and video programs. To engage in Internet audio-visual program service shall be in accordance with the provisions to apply license issued from broadcast film and television authorities or filing procedures. If not following the above steps, any groups and individuals couldn’t perform internet audio and video program service. According to this provision, it can not be engaged in the two types of Internet audio-visual program services. First is to produce, edit, integrate video and. 政治大 audio-visual program services for others. 立. audio programs to the public through the Internet. The second is to upload and spread. ‧ 國. 學. II. Internet Content Control. ‧. In reviewing the purpose and current status of Chinese internet development, under the internet control of the CCP, users tried various methods to get breakthrough. y. Nat. er. io. sit. and reach blocked messages. The leaders of the CCP, although in recent years they have expressed support for internet development, still insist on the necessity of. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. network of control and, linking with the technology of various major network. engchi. corporations, conduct more rigorous control. Analyzing regulations on network, we can find recurring contents in a few provisions, which, we would say, are the core contents of internet control on ideology. Included in the provisions are contents such as that people may not “endanger national security, leak national secrets, incite others to subvert national power, undermine national unity, harm national honor and interests, sabotage national religion policy,” and so forth. These elements are clearly related with advocates that China will maintain the existing form of government that is anti-democracy and that it. . ‐ 20 ‐.

(22) is against national separation. The more orientations are presented in internet development, the more of them are included in regulations, and each orientation is associated with speech control. For the same reason, democratic expression in all new network interfaces is fully clamped down. China also set up a filtration system on the Internet. This filter throughout the application, access points, ISP and backbone at all levels, impact to the website, e‐mail, forums, university BBS, social network, blog and micro blog services, instant messaging, search engines and other types of information dissemination. Filter . 政治大. content, including pornography, Falun Gong, political topics, minority ethnic topics . 立. and so on. Facing China's severe Internet filtering symptoms, internet users invented . ‧ 國. 學. a large amount of replaced words, for example, the network's popular 2009 “Grass mud horse” phenomenon was born in this environment 7 . On January 2010, Google, . ‧. the most popular search engine in the world, had decided to stop filtering searching . sit. y. Nat. results in China, even had to turn off business in China 8 . As the Internet is crossing . n. al. er. io. the border, it not only related to a country’s control, but also relevant to global . i n U. v. governance. Google announced move out of China, the conflict and the . Ch. engchi. embarrassment exposure exhaustive. . III. Network Control on the Service Supply Side Six internet domains of backbone network that connects to the outside have been set up in operation since 2004. The administrative offices of the six domains of backbone network belong to the government; they are nation-owned institutions if not organizations of the government. As far as internet service providers (ISP) and                                                         7. The New York Times : A Dirty Pun Tweaks China’s Online Censors, By MICHAEL WINES, Published: March 11, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/world/asia/12beast.html 8 BBC NEWS : Google stops censoring search results in China, By Damian Grammaticas, Published: March 23, 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8582181.stm . ‐ 21 ‐.

(23) internet content providers (ICP), all of the vendors have to get connected to the internet by the six backbone network although China is a member of WTO and must open to foreign capital 9 . The administration asks ISP and ICP in the form of regulatory requirements that they may not produce, reproduce, publish, or transmit any “harmful” information. If violation was found, the providers shall immediately stop transmitting, preserve related records, and report to relevant authority. The providers must also note the contents of information as an active duty. They must be “self-contained.”. 政治大. By management and control of network suppliers, as well as cooperation of them. 立. with network police, China in principle is capable of disclosing those who spread. ‧ 國. 學. messages and hide behind the network, as well as blocking, removing, or changing the contents that violate the specification at any time. Establishment of the control. ‧. mechanism means that officials of China are capable of blocking and restricting. Nat. er. io. sit. y. network contents partially, selectively, elastically, and instantly.. The ISP and ICP should be responsible for content providing to internet users,. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. and cooperates with regime authorities’ control. For example, according to the 14th. engchi. article of “Internet information service management requirements” 10 published on September 20th, 2000, and latest updated on August 3rd, 2011, any ISP which engaged in news, publishing, and e-bulletin board service should record the information contents, including its login time, IP address, and domain name. Internet which accesses to ICP should record users’ online time, user account, IP address, domain name, caller phone number and other information. The record from ISP and Internet.                                                         9. In 2006 capital holdings were completed liberated and foreign holders can own 50% of stocks. “Internet information service management requirements＂, issued date September 25, 2000, updated on August 3rd, 2011, http://www.isc.org.cn/flfg/xzfg/listinfo-13455.html . 10. . ‐ 22 ‐.

(24) access to ICP should be kept a backup for 60 days and provided to relevant national authorities while inquiry.. IV. Green Dam Youth Escort Filtering Software While China’s internet controls obtaining results, it was accompanied by a new problem.. Because of Internet’s features of technical and non-border nature, it. increased China’s difficulty of control.. It also brings unprecedented sense of. urgency to China’s Internet management from the Internet hackers glimpse and invasion.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Figure 2: Green Dam Youth Escort Filtering Software Source: http://www.lssw365.net/lvhang/index.php In 2009, the opening of the “Green Dam Youth Escort (Green Dam)” filtering software has aroused great concern. In June 2009, in order to prevent young people from the Internet against bad information, the Ministry of Industry and Information . ‐ 23 ‐.

(25) Technology(MIIT) issued a notification to order computer manufacturing and sales of enterprises should be completed the “Green Dam Youth Escort” software pre-testing and other related work by the end of June 2009. The day after July 1st the computers on sales should be pre-installed “Green Dam Youth Escort” software.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. i n U. v. Figure 3: Any dissemination of information will be filtered by Green Dam Youth. Ch. engchi. Escort Filtering Software.. Source: http://www.lssw365.net/lvhang/index.php. It was claimed by the integrated test and pilot applications, the software can effectively filter the Internet bad text and image contents, the software has been pre-installed by computer producers. 11 This control initiative has aroused concern by.                                                         11. . MIIT (June 9th 2009）,http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2009-06/09/content_1335703.htm ‐ 24 ‐.

(26) domestic and abroad. In June 2009, University of Michigan School of Computer Science and Engineering reported on the Green Dam Review Analysis: 1, Green dam itself is very fragile and vulnerable to Internet hackers attacks. 2, Green dam itself has a monitoring function, it can prevent adult contents and political sensitive information. 3, The part of the code in Green dam coincides with the same type of software,. 政治大. Cyber Sitter of the United States. 12. 立. The Chinese Internet security vendor Qihoo soon confirmed the presence of high. ‧ 國. 學. risk in this green rogue software, security vulnerabilities can lead the user to face theft. ‧. on online games, Internet Banking account, personal privacy such as multiple risks.13. Nat. io. sit. y. Chinese Internet users gave fierce attack to the security of this software and. er. compulsory installation of “Green Dam”. There are various academics and. al. n. v i n professionals having expressed C with and actions out of dissatisfaction and h ethenwords gchi U. resistance. The Chinese authorities took into account this green software caused Internet users’ resentment and international questions and complaints, and some manufacturers did not timely completion of a comprehensive test, a reason for postponing the Green software, finally postpone the schedule of pre-installing in.                                                         12. Scott Wolchok, Randy Yao, J. Alex Halderman analysis of the green dam censorware system。 http://www.cse.umich.edu/~jhalderm/pub/gd/ 13 China News Net, June 13th, 2009, http://www.chinanews.com.cn/it/it-bdyj/news/2009/06-13/1732888.shtml . ‐ 25 ‐.

(27) domestic. 14. During the unprecedented Internet development era, the Internet’s transparency, its rapid nature, and users’ wide range participation brought unprecedented challenges to the management and control of China.. The government’s mandatory action,. opaque or immaturity can only lead to Internet users’ resentment and anger, it will also give rise to the international community's doubts and resistance. The Green Dam project development in China is as the table of follows :. 政治Development 大. Table 2: The Green Dam project development in China Stage. 立. ‧ 國. 學. Finance, Industry and Information Technology(MIIT),. ‧. State Council Information Office(SCIO) jointly issued. sit. software work well for green internet in primary and. er. io. secondary schools” to decide providing free green internet. al. v i n filtering and secondary schools. C hsoftware for primary engchi U. n. Promotion and testing. y. “Notification about doing installing internet filtering. Nat First stage :. On April 1st 2009, Chinese Ministry of Education,. 15. Otherwise, it also provided each authority and. individual user free download and pushed this green dam to domestic from July 1st 2009. The Chinese official slogan is to “change the world and for future achievement”, “build green, health, and peaceful internet environment”, and                                                         14 UDN NEWS :China postpone installing Green Dam software, June 18th 2009, http://www.udn.com/2009/6/18/NEWS/MAINLAND/MAI2/4968993.shtml Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China : Notification about doing installing internet filtering software work well for green internet in primary and secondary schools, April 1st 2009,http://www.moe.edu.cn/edoas/website18/level3.jsp?tablename=603&infoid=1241685430269372. 15. . ‐ 26 ‐.

(28) “spread green seeds and harvest for golden hope”. The computers from the plan of “The China's Home Appliance Subsidy Program for Rural Areas” had also preinstalled this green software. 16 The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology(MIIT) issued notification about “Computers Second stage :. will be pre-installed green filtering software” to command. Total Pre-install green domestic produced and sold laptops had to pre-installed the. 立. 2009. 17. 2009, the Chinese MIIT. announced a provision to postpone installing this software.. ‧ 國. On August 13th 2009, according to the opinion from each. ‧. side, the Chinese MIIT would decide the next installation. y. Nat. and pre-installation case for next step. MIIT also strengthened that the computers in schools, cyber cafes and. er. io. sit. Cancel pre-install Green Dam software. th. 學. Third Stage :. 政治大 However, on June 30. latest version of “|Green Dam Youth Escort” after July 1st. dam soft ware. n. places will be installed green dam software. apublic iv l C n tried to h cover people’s enforced e n g c h i U impression.. Fourth Stage: Green Dam Project team. 18. MIIT. On July 13th, the Green Dam Project team disbanded crews because of lack budget. 19. disbanded.                                                                                                                                                             16. Nanfangdaily: The Computers sold after July 1st have to be installed "Green Dam", By Ministry of Industry and Information, May 19 2009,:http://nf.nfdaily.cn/nanfangdaily/nfjx/200906090005.asp 17 MIIT : Notification about “Computers will be pre-installed green filtering software”, By MIIT, Published: May 19th 2009, http://dzs.miit.gov.cn/n11293472/n11293832/n11293952/12398220.html 18 CNS: Mr. Li, Minister of MIIT, claimed that Green Dam problem was expanded, By Chin Xin, Published: August 13th 2009, http://www.chinanews.com/cj/cj-cyzh/news/2009/08-13/1816719.shtml 19 Sina: Green Dam project team was disbanded without getting country's budget, By Li Bing, Published: July 13th 2010, http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2010-07-13/031220663435.shtml . ‐ 27 ‐.

(29) Although the Green Dam project was not brought big success for China but its website still continue update software version and news. However its green project still Current status: Continue. continues with different project names. “Green computers. processing to the western” is one of them, apparently to improve. green project. western provinces internet infrastructure but the main purpose is to control people’s thinking and to provide “green” information, then to achieve control internet. 政治大. information goal. 20. 立. Source: adapted from author’s collected.. ‧ 國. 學. V. Control of Network News. ‧. On 25 September 2009, the Ministry of Information Industry and the Council. y. Nat. io. sit. Information Office of People’s Republic of China jointly announced “Inter-network. n. al. er. News Information Service Management Act”, another new regulation as China keeps. Ch. i n U. v. strengthening domestic internet control. According to a report by the Associated Press,. engchi. the new regulation required that the inter-network news information service units can only post news, provide electronic bulletin service of current political affairs, issue communication information of current political affairs, and encourage news information that help “improve quality of citizens, promote economic development, as well as enhance social progress, health, and civilization”, while they should prohibit the dissemination of contents that are “contrary to national security and public interest.” In the face of China’s huge population of internet users, the CCP on one                                                         20. CRI : "Green" computers to the western, By Jiang Sin, Publish: August 1st 2011, http://big5.chinabroadcast.cn/gate/big5/difang.cri.cn/201/2011/08/01/81s10896.htm . ‐ 28 ‐.

(30) hand encourage online education and business information whereas it on the other hand spend a lot of manpower and material resource in setting up internet police, preventing pornography, and clamping down freedom of speech. People are likely to be sent to prison by being branded as “acting against national security” or other vague names if they express sensitive political commentary or criticize the government. During the Jasmine Revolution movement in China 2011, the Chinese Sichuan police arrested Chinese well-known blogger Ran Yunfei with “inciting subversion of state power” on February 24th 2011 and received formal official approval arrested. 政治大. notification to Ran from Chengdu Public Security Bureau on March 28th. Ran was. 立. held in Dujiangyan.. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Figure 4: Ran Yunfei, one of the famous Chinese writers, who was arrested by CCP during the Chinese Jasmine activities. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ran_Yunfei. . ‐ 29 ‐.

(31) Later on June 27th, Ran’s lawyer confirmed that his case has been returned by Chengdu Intermediate Court because of lack evidence. On August 9th 2011, Ran was released from detention center in Dujiangyan and returned home in Sichuan. 21 Although Ran was released but this is not the only one case, there were many people arrested because of engaging in internet activities. To further control and restrain potential dissidents, the CCP shut down thousands of internet cafes, place where it was the only opportunity to access internet for many people who could not afford to buy computers. The China administration installed. 政治大. surveillance cameras in the internet cafes, required that internet users must register. 立. their ID numbers, and threatened to close unregistered websites and web blogs 22 .. ‧ 國. 學. The “Borderless Reporter Organization” criticized that western companies not only failed to use their influence to promote freedom of expression and information in. ‧. China, but compromised to the Chinese Communists. Now it is time that Yahoo,. Nat. er. io. have brought to China with their business activities.. sit. y. Google, and Microsoft should begin to think about the moral consequences that they. al. n. v i n C hbetween Internet Section 2 Relationship e n g c h i U and Democracy The trend of internet “globalization” will also become the most important characterization in future human society. The birth and rise of the internet has brought an epoch of revolutionized influence on global information technology. Not only has internet development offered a new communication tool and information channel for the Mainland China across the straight, but it has also provided various media a new                                                         21. The New York Times : China Releases Dissident Blogger, With Conditions, By ANDREW JACOBS, Published: August 10, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/world/asia/11blogger.html?_r=1&ref=china 22 The so-called web blog is the fourth way of network communication after email, BBS, and ICQ. Usually it is composed of short and frequently updated posts arranged in the reverse order of dates. . ‐ 30 ‐.

(32) way to enter the society of China. Publishing “Communication and Democracy” in 1997, Christopher Kedzie argued that, in statistical studies, democracy and the technology growth of communication and information have a positive correlation, and meanwhile he proposed the concept of coincident revolution23 . In exploring the relationship between internet in China and democracy, we started with China’s internet policy, internet control vs. democratic participation on network, and the nature of the internet and information, to understand the interactive relationship between internet and democracy.. 治政 I. Connection between Network Democracy 大 and Democratization 立 ‧ 國. 學. In the process of economic development, authoritarian countries need advanced communication and communication technologies, and these communication. ‧. io. sit. Nat. that democratic thoughts will enter the authoritarian countries.. y. technologies, especially internet, will open the doors to the authoritarian countries so. n. al. er. “Internet democracy” is accompanied by the concept of virtual politics. The. Ch. i n U. v. latter was proposed by American scholar Mark Slouka. It means a democracy. engchi. mediated by internet, a democracy infiltrated by network components. Namely, known as “electronic democracy” or “digital democracy”, it is a democracy with new channel and new form realized by network information technology 24 . The connection between network democracy and democratization has the following characteristics..                                                         23. Kedzie C. (1997). "Communication and Democracy. Coincident Revolution and the Emergence of the Dictators Dilemma." RAND Graduate School, Santa Monica, CA, http://www.rand.org/pubs/rgs_dissertations/RGSD127/sec1.html 24 Slouka, Mark. (1995), “War of the Worlds: Cyberspace and the High-Tech Assault on Reality”, New York: Basic Books, New York, p166. . ‐ 31 ‐.

(33) A. Internet Users Become the Main Promoters of Democratic Force In 2008, U.S. presidential election for the first time launched a televised debate from the questions of internet users and used the internet blogs to win over popular opinions and enhance poll results. With web strategy as one of the keys for his victory, Mr. Obama was also known as “network president”. It shows the influence of internet on politics could have not been overlooked since some time ago.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學 er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. n. v i n C h Obama used theUinternet as his propaganda tool Figure 5: American President Barack engchi to win election.. Source: http://www.socialtechpop.com/2011/04/president-barack-obama-live-chat-onon-facebook/ Interaction among internet users in the world of network ensures real-time transmission of information, while characteristics of democratic mechanism are participation, dialogue, and communication. By way of equal debate and interrogation, citizens reflect their wills and exercise their civil rights. With the great contributions of internet inventers, not only is the technology given human elements and civil spirit,. . ‐ 32 ‐.

(34) but it is also provided with methods and ways for materialization of the human elements and civil spirit. As the world's most populous country, China surpassed the United States in 2008 and became the most populous in internet. Up to date, the internet population of China is still rapidly growing by the rate of super multiplication. Although facing global financial crisis, China remains great intensity in network infrastructure. Especially in the program that domestic appliances go to the villages the government subsidizes information products such as mobile phones, computers, and so forth. It. 政治大. shows China is spending full effort in establishing a complete network in the nation.. 立. Internet is irreplaceable to China’s web population in communicating civil. ‧ 國. 學. opinions and expressing civil status. The rampant development of internet and passion. ‧. of internet users in participating in discussion of political topics have greatly changed the political landscape of China’s democracy. However, China’s policy and control. y. Nat. n. al. B. Network Control and Democratic Speech. Ch. engchi. er. io. sit. toward internet are still variables as China moves on to democracy in the future.. i n U. v. In view of how internet brought democracy into China, Morris (2000:186) had a statement, which was in fundamental contradiction that puzzled dictatorship: “economy will not grow without intensively using computer, but the flow of information can be out of control if every one can use computer.” The basic discourse is exactly the same as that of Kedzie, where Morris was more optimistic in democratic vision that internet would bring to China. Compared with the optimistic perspective of Morris, the “democracy” in China today as a political system, the author thinks, should still get a negative response. . ‐ 33 ‐.

(35) when we examine whether internet has brought democracy into China after it has been connected for twenty years 25 and its commercialization has proceeded for more than twenty years. Although scholars such as Michael Fromkin, took it more fairly that internet and global communication has effectively changed the political system. For example, in China, “facsimile communication and CNN camera restricted the repression capacity of the China regime in the Tiananmen massacre” (quoted from Yang Du and Liu Zi Hua, 2001). Viewed as of today, the control by the China government in clamping down democratic speech on the network is still quite effective.. 立. 政治大. C. Internet Users’ Participation in Democracy and Consolidation in National. ‧ 國. 學. Ideology. ‧. With the advent of Internet in a new era, it brings more challenges to social and political systems in China. Hence, on one hand it is necessary to strengthen internet. y. Nat. er. io. sit. monitoring and control and to avoid that internet becomes one of the channels for the international community to conduct “peaceful evolution” toward Mainland China; on. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. the other hand, China controls internet to achieve its political propaganda. That. engchi. becomes one of the most difficult issues that the central administration of China presently faces. China always holds a sense of the urgency of danger as to the assimilation of capitalist countries because it is one of the few remaining big nations of communism. It regards the American proposed peaceful evolution as force invasion and escalates it to ideological struggle. Today, in the popularity of internet, western information finds one more convenient channel to enter the Mainland China. It makes China even more                                                         25. In 1987, China Academic Network issued the first email “cross the great wall; lead to the world”, which opened the prelude of China’s internet application, cited from Kou Jian Wen (2001). . . ‐ 34 ‐.

(36) so concern about the peaceful evolution. Thus, Jiang Zemin stressed that the internet must be “actively developed and intensively managed”. During the development, China spent a considerable amount of manpower and materials in organizing internet police force, developing administrative software, and specifying rigorous regulations. In addition, it also made good use of internet features, employing the internet as an effective tool for propaganda and management. As far as the consolidation of domestic ideology, it, placing patriotism and cultural-nationalism, calls for the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics to consolidate the consensus of. 政治大. people against the western peaceful evolution.. 學. ‧ 國. 立Control Methods and Obstruction on Section 3 China's Internet. ‧. This section is based on survey data published between 1999 and 2010,. y. Nat. sit. according to the statistical investigation report of China Internet Network Information. n. al. er. io. Center, an official and private recognized authoritative institution. Founded on. i n U. v. internet and digital technology, the new media brought opportunities to development. Ch. engchi. of China but challenges to the administration for the control of speech, which also created difficulties to the ruling CCP and its closed management style.. I. China's Internet Control Methods Clear analysis is given on China’s internet control, reasons for the control, principles, institutional evolution, and the actual implementation, regulations, etc. (A) Besides negative effects induced by information flow (such as the proliferation of pornography, gambling, drugs, spread viruses, fraud, hackers, etc.), the reasons of the CCP for political control in the network include spread of network . ‐ 35 ‐.

(37) information from domestic and international and the disperse of “peaceful evolution” and network colonialism. (B) CCP believes in Leninism. A dictatorial country does not allow internet development to surpass its jurisdictional authority. Henceforth, in the principle of management, the master instruction of internet control for the CCP has been developing it progressively, strengthening control, approaching what benefits and avoiding disadvantages, as well as harnessing it as a privately owned.. 治政大 into three phases: the first of information technology. Its evolution can be divided 立 phase was an experimental control system before 1994; the second phase was a (C) China’s internet control system is basically associated with the development. ‧ 國. 學. transition system between 1994 and 1998; and the third phase has been the. ‧. establishment of the department of information industry since 1998 by combining the former department of postal electronics and department of electronic industry, a. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. sit. decision in the national ninth people’s representative conference.. i n U. v. (D) In the internet control strategy, the approaches of data flow control on. Ch. engchi. network are of the two types: “none-technological surveillance” and “technological surveillance”. (E) The CCP included in the legislative articles unified central leadership and delegated legislative permission to institutions that are, to certain extent, decentralized, multi-level co-existent, and multi-category combined. The actual implementation of network control can be divided into the following techniques, including internal network control, screening software, firewall, control by software and hardware network technology, content examination by national staff,. . ‐ 36 ‐.

(38) reporting hotline on website, recruitment of internet commentators who help guide online public opinions, network real-name system, requirement of domestic and foreign technology companies for network control, internet police, control of internet cafes, the expansion of the official Chinese website, control of web browsing on oversea sites by pricing, propaganda of network ethics, and industry self-regulation.. II. Network blockade of Rigorous Control In April 2005, the Open Net Initiative jointly established by Harvard Law School,. 治政 Internet blockade. “China’s internet filtering system 大 is the world's most developed. 立 Compared to other similar systems in some countries, China’s internet filtering University of Cambridge, and the University of Toronto published a study on China’s. ‧ 國. 學. system covers a wide range, employs meticulous techniques, and has significant. ‧. effectiveness. The whole system, in which a large number of national institutions and thousands of government and enterprise employees are involved, contains multi-level. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. sit. restrictions of legal basis and technical control.” said in the report 26 .. i n U. v. The China’s government uses western technologies provided by Cisco, Nortel,. Ch. engchi. Sun, 3COM, and Microsoft to block internet and demands internet companies to help filter “sensitive” speech. It is alleged that “key words” filtered by the network control department are as many as 1,000 to 1,500. Microsoft installed filters in its MSN blog space in China and Google removed, in the archive, documentations of its China news channel that had been blockaded by China government. In January 2006 when Google launched google.cn, any content in violation against China government was filtered. Yahoo China was also accused of helping China authorities in investigating online dissidents.                                                         26. BBC: The internet democratic power causes rebound, By Chang Qiang, Published: September 26th 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/chinese/trad/hi/newsid_4280000/newsid_4283500/4283558.stm . ‐ 37 ‐.

(39) It is reported that the China government blocked most of websites that mention Falun Gong, “June 4” incident or political objection groups. The editorials series of “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party” published by the oversea newspaper “Epoch Times” apparently drew the attention of China government. As reported, 90% of the websites that mention “nine commentaries” were blockaded.. III. Internet become CCP’s political propaganda tool On June 20, 2008, China’s President Hu Jintao visited the. 立. 政治 People's 大 Daily for its founded in the 60th anniversary, and to. ‧ 國. 學. communicated with the Internet through. ‧. users. the. People's. Daily Online forum. 27. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. Source: People’s Daily. sit. Figure 6: Hu Jintao visited the People's Daily. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. On February 28, 2009, China’s Premier Wen Jiabao came to the Chinese government net interview room, for his first time online exchange with the Internet users from around the world.. In a few hours, it poured into more than 300,000. netizens from around the world to ask him questions, overseas media are widespread attention to theses two activities and realized that, through the Internet, the Chinese people's awareness of political participation and civic awareness are gradually improve, saying that 2009 will be the year of China's “Internet users in politics”.                                                         27. People’s Daily：President Hu communicated with internet users through People’s Daily online forum, June 20th 2008, http://big5.people.com.cn/gate/big5/www.people.com.cn/GB/32306/54155/57487/7406717.html. . ‐ 38 ‐.

(40) Tremendous impact on the network already through social, penetrating to the political level, further changes in the leader's thinking and ideals. 28. 學. ‧ 國. 立. 政治大. Figure 7: Wen Jiabao on www.gov.cn Source: www.gov.cn. ‧ y. Nat. sit. Although the use of the Internet in Mainland China in all aspects of appearance. n. al. er. io. looks more and more progressive and open, but apart from the building as well as. i n U. v. technical aspects of hardware and software have yet to be substantially improved. Ch. engchi. beyond. In addition, the Chinese authorities have basically not willing to let people via the Internet to obtain non-official sources that is not conducive to political control, or difficult to monitor the use of communication channels, so the future Internet development in China is still a very difficult . We also know that Mainland China has regarded the media as a propaganda tool for the party, emphasizing Party's principles, and apply a unified propaganda caliber to create representations of the point of view, to shape a common understanding.                                                         28. GOV : Premier Wen was interviewed by the Chinese government net and Xinhua net, February 28th 2009,http://big5.gov.cn/gate/big5/www.gov.cn/ldhd/2009-02/28/content_1246565.htm . ‐ 39 ‐.

(41) However it will be hard to be effectively implemented in today's Internet Internet Road, especially under the circumstances of the global popularity of Internet service. Because of the Internet’s rapid, timely, free and not restricted by space and its unregulated nature, it has become a sharp knife on both sides to the Chinese central leadership. On the one hand the Chinese government worried the caused social problem if their laissez-faire internet speech.. On the other hand, the central. authorities will not easily give up the monopoly and control of news. But in another respect, because of the potential benefits of the Internet are very rich, the government. 政治大. itself, and even foreign investments want to eat piece of the pie.. 立. In the layers of. Internet control, the Chinese government forces of excessive intervention and. ‧ 國. 學. interference, this is very annoying and inconvenient to state-owned enterprises for the relevant bodies, and enterprise. With the Internet industry's long-term development,. ‧. its uncertainty policy casts a shadow.. For this emerging medium of the Internet in. Nat. sit. y. Mainland China can be said that it gradually emerging a new powerful media forces,. n. al. er. io. but also because of its no-barrier with the borderless nature makes its central government very nervous.. . Ch. engchi. ‐ 40 ‐. i n U. v.

(42) Chapter 4 Analysis of Effects on Democratization How China views the effect of the internet development on its democratization, according to the layout of China’s internet development, can be discerned from measures on regulatory restriction and promotion of cultural domain. Nevertheless, in view of democratic perspective, present network democracy is still of a form of imperfect democracy. The so-called perfect democracy is the people can express their general ideas to influence the political direction and more importantly, people can get. 政治大. experience in democratic politics to question the ideas and opinions from the. 立. politicians or the social elites. 29. ‧ 國. 學. The effect of internet democracy has not sufficiently been manifested. However, accompanied by the evolution of “network politics” and the overall promotion of. ‧. electronic government, “internet democracy” will move on in a direction of. y. Nat. io. sit. solidification. The nature and scope of its effect will vary in various degrees. It is. n. al. er. bound to play a substantial impact on the development of democratic politics in China.. i n U. v. This chapter focuses on impact of internet development on the China regime, induced. Ch. engchi. issues due to the impact, and analysis of the possible impact of internet on democratization of China.. Section 1 Impact and Issue of Internet on China Regime According to Liu Hua Yin (2005), internet was an emerging media; thus it could not be viewed by classification of traditional political theory but should be discussed in view of the information theory under the trend of globalization, illustrated by                                                         29. Carey, J.W. (1995) “Abolishing the Old Spirit World”, Critical Studies in Mass Communication 12(1), p82-88. . ‐ 41 ‐.