Internet Dissent and Governance Challenges in China －Case Studies of the Wenzhou Train Accident and Dalian “PX” Protests
Date Issued
2012
Date
2012
Author(s)
Lo, Yu-Shan
Abstract
Rapidly -developing Internet technologies have become the platform for Chinese citizens to voice dissent. In the economically-liberalized but politically-unreformed environment of post-totalitarian China, online platforms allow the Netizen to seek his or her right to know and supervise, and even to engage in street protests. Internet dissent and protest, the power of China’s Netizen, empowers internet users to play a role not only as a catalyst for major social developments in China, but also as a direct participant in these developments. This power has highlighted the growing challenges to governance in China.
Through case studies of the Wenzhou Train Accident and Dalian “PX” plant incident that took place in 2011, this study explores the politics of rising civil engagement in public affairs in China through wider utilization of the Internet. The data source for both case studies are internet posts related to the Wenzhou Train Accident and Dalian “PX” plant incident in the Tianya(天涯社區) online forum. A set of indicators is developed and the qualitative analysis software Nvivo is employed to code the content of the online forum. The coding results are also cross-examined for several characteristics of the participants.
This study finds that China’s government employs a two-pronged strategy in dealing with internet dissent, allowing looser control of criticism of state officials while exerting strict control over collective action. The challenge of Internet activism has pushed China’s authorities to increase the speed of crisis management and improve government accountability. Moreover, in the posts related to these cases, Netizen mock and satire authority. The characteristic features of China Netizen are opposition to officials and hatred of the rich. These features imply a wide distance between officials and citizens. Finally, based on observation of promotion and accountability reports for Chinese officials, this study concludes that China takes internet dissent seriously because the long-term and wide-ranging discussions of the Netizen demonstrate the scale of social unrest. Thus, Internet dissent and the Netizen will be the vehicle for citizens’ movements in post-totalitarian China.
Subjects
China Netizen
Post-Totalitarian
Wenzhou Train Crash
Dalian PX
Internet Voice
Governance
Crisis Management
Type
thesis
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