published_or_final_version / Journalism and Media Studies Centre / Master / Master of Journalism

二零一零年一月，全球最大的互联网搜索引擎谷歌在其官网上宣布了他们由于不满中国政府长期以来的网络审查制度而有意退出中国市场的决定。西方主流媒体及评论家对于中国的网络审查制度惯常以负面评价为主。中国民众对此又持怎样的态度呢？这个研究将焦点放在了中国的海归派身上。由于长年游走在中国大陆及海外之间，他们常常可以体验及比较不同地区的网络世界，故此对网络审查比一般的中国大陆民众有更深的体会及更详尽的洞悉。本研究旨在探索这群曾在或仍在中国境外居住的中国人是如何理解中国的互联网审查制度的。 / 在此研究的受访对象中，有些人将网络审查视为一个来自政府的负面干涉，并认为它代表了一个不诚实的政府。而另一些人则认为由于中国社会及中国文化的特殊性，网络审查制度有其存在的道理。虽然受访对象的看法多样，但他们在谈论这个话题的时候都表现出了一种充满矛盾感的民族主义情节 ---他们会竭力为一个另自己蒙羞的政府辩护。通过深入分析了这种充满矛盾感的民族主义情节：它是如何产生的，又意味着什么，它与网络审查制度又有何相关，笔者力图强调，本研究受访对象的国家认同感在这个辩护过程中得到了加强。此分析有助于更好的了解中国的网络审查制度，以及它的合理性是如何被塑造出来的。 / In January, 2010, the biggest internet search engine, Google, announced its potential exodus from the Chinese market due to China’s practice of censorship. Many foreign commentators have criticized China’s practice of censorship. But what are the views of Chinese citizens? This research focuses on a special group of Chinese netizens called “returnees“ [overseas Chinese who are living in between China and elsewhere], who have experienced both the domestic and overseas cyber-worlds. Through studying their perspectives on censorship, this research seeks to understand how those who have lived outside China understand internet censorship within China. / Some informants view internet censorship as a negative intrusion and a representation of an untruthful government while others consider it as a necessity in managing China’s cyberspace due to the special cultural context of Chinese society. Though their perceptions vary, my informants expressed a paradoxical nationalism, defending a government they felt ashamed of; this was expressed repeatedly during interviews. In this thesis, by bringing censorship and nationalism together, I analyze in depth my informants’ paradoxical and conflicting attitude toward these two concepts, in order to better understand Chinese censorship and how it may be justified. I argue that by defending censorship, my informants’ Chinese identities have been reinforced. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Chang, Xinyue. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 156-165). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Chapter Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Introduction: “The Google-China Affair“ --- p.2 / Chinese Returnees --- p.4 / TheNascent Public Sphere, Censorship, and the Google-China Affair --- p.5 / AnHistorical Perspective --- p.13 / Methodology --- p.21 / Chapter Breakdown --- p.24 / Chapter Chapter2. --- Literature Review --- p.26 / The Anthropology of Cyberspace --- p.26 / China’s Cyberspace --- p.36 / Nationalismand Chinese Nationalism --- p.39 / Chapter Chapter3. --- The Google-China Affair --- p.53 / TheSage of Google and China --- p.58 / Reviewing the Saga through the Eyes of Chinese Returnees --- p.63 / Follow-Up --- p.77 / Conclusion --- p.77 / Chapter Chapter4. --- Freedom of Information --- p.79 / Universal Human Rights vs. Cultural Relativism --- p.79 / Individual Agency vs. State Control --- p.85 / Market Domination vs. State Control --- p.90 / The Concept of Rationality --- p.92 / Responses to Moral Discipline --- p.97 / Conclusion --- p.101 / Chapter Chapter5. --- Freedom of Speech --- p.103 / Freedom in Relation to Speech --- p.105 / Twitter and Sina Weibo --- p.109 / Liu Xiaobo --- p.116 / Ai Weiwei --- p.119 / The Chinese Jasmine Movement --- p.122 / Conclusion --- p.124 / Chapter Chapter6. --- Conclusion: Censorship and Chinese Nationalism --- p.129 / The Conundrum of Self-Flagellating National Pride --- p.130 / Repressive Hypothesis --- p.136 / Presentation of Self and Rituals of Rebellion --- p.141 / Collective Memory Construction --- p.149 / Conclusion: Censorship and Nationalism --- p.151 / Bibliography --- p.156

published_or_final_version / Law / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

With the development of the information network technologies and the popularisation of the Internet, Chinese society is experiencing a Triple Revolution. Regulating the Internet has become a priority in China. In this context, this study seeks a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of China's Internet regulatory mechanism. Through the systematical analysis on Internet law in China, supplemented by the case study on how the issue of the Occupy Movement in Hong Kong was regulated, this study argues that China has developed a hybrid Internet regulatory model, which values both external defense and internal control in pursuit of the goal of cybersecurity, and which combines hierarchical regulation with horizontal monitoring to address challenges brought by contemporary network society. The Internet panoptic-fortification model is developed to illuminate China's Internet regulatory mechanism. The Internet panoptic-fortification model is featured by the centralised control from the authorities and ISPs, the establishment of Chinese sovereign cyberspace with jurisdictional and technical supports, the implementation of the network real-name system and the Internet-surfing record backup system to regulate individual Internet users, and the tight ideological control. This conceptual model reflects important aspects of Michel Foucault's account of governmentality, incorporating both centralised power and diffuse micro-power. This study suggests that China's Internet law to some extent has become an instrument for the state to promote the social discipline in the sovereign cyberspace, and the Internet regulatory mechanism serves for the national security and social stability in a broader context.