Falun Gong protesters, the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, the spy
plane incident and a series of mine accidents are just some of the events over the past
decade that involved the Internet. In each incident the leadership of the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP) was caught off guard by the circumvention of informational
flows as a consequence of the Internet. This is in some ways indicative of the impact
the medium is having on the ability of the CCP to manage political discourse within
the confines of the country. This thesis examines the way that political discourse in
contemporary China is managed in response to the development of the Internet, using
the concepts of time and space as conceived by Harold A. Innis.
This historical study considers the strategies used in the management of time and
space in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) across a broad range of ways in which
the medium is used by particular groups, such as online gamers, bloggers, hackers,
and activists. I have also looked at the way information flows are managed during a
crisis or disaster using critical textual analysis of Internet sources, and specific
examples. These sources are both official and unofficial including Chinese
government sites, journalistic sources both Chinese and Western and Chinese legal
databases that appear on the World Wide Web (WWW). The study finds that there is
an emerging shift from propaganda based media manipulation and suppression to a
style of stage managed spin. The CCP have used three strategies to contain and
maintain their hold over central power, including the rule of law, investment in the
development of content and technological means. The development of the Internet in
China is marked by a dialect of desire for the technology for economic purposes and
the perceived need to control the technology for political purposes. The Internet has
also enabled the central government in Beijing to reassert its position as a central
authority over local and provincial governments.
This study contributes to the existing knowledge about Chinese media policy and the
Internet, and will shed light on the ways in which the tehcnology influences the
production and consumption of media and the impact that the development of this
medium has upon media policy in China. Furthermore, this study will contribute to a
greater understanding of CCP's ability to manage information and the impact that this
medium will have on the operations of Chinese politics within the space of the
Internet, as well as the impact of the technology on politics, and China's interaction
with the international community.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/203492 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Hearn, Kay, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. n/a |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright Kay Hearn |
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