Spaces of Authoritarian Deliberation:
Online Public Deliberation in China
Harvard Fairbank Center - Media in Chinese Politics Workshop
Min Jiang
Assistant Professor
Department of Communication Studies
UNC-Charlotte
Email: mjiang3@uncc.edu
PPT Citation: Jiang, M. (2009, April 25). Spaces of authoritarian deliberation: Online public deliberation in China. Presented
Citation:
at Media in Chinese Politics Workshop at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Cambridge,

Chinese Internet Population
298 million Internet users (CNNIC, 2009)
2/3 under age 30
162 million bloggers (more than ½ of China’s netizens)
117 million Internet mobile phone users
700 million mobile phone users (½ of Chinese population)
Photos courtesy of MinnPost.Com, eChinaCities.com
MinnPost.Com,

Cyber Censorship and Its Myths
Photo LEFT: Mobinode.com and RIGHT: Wikimedia.org
Images MIDDLE from: http://www.wired.com/politics/security/magazine/15-11/ff_chinafirewall?currentPage=all
http://www.wired.com/politics/security/magazine/15-
http://politicsoffthegrid.wordpress.com/2008/07/02/chinese-bloggers-overpower-the-great-firewall-of-china/
http://politicsoffthegrid.wordpress.com/2008/07/02/chinese- bloggers- overpower- the- great- firewall- of-

“We Chinese Need to be Controlled”?
Jackie Chan:
Media quoted me out
of context
Dai Qincheng: (HK)
Netizens demand
Jackie Chan be sent
to North Korea
(reprint)
Han Han:
Read the Emperor’s
mind like Jackie Chan
ChinaNet, douban, Sina Blog (April 23, 2009)

Modern Authoritarianism
Patriotism + Legitimacy based on performance
Photo LEFT: http://www.flickr.com/photos/33673641@N00/1251068537
Photo RIGHT: http://rss.xinhuanet.com/newsc/english/2008-05/14/content_8168699.htm

Spaces of Authoritarian Deliberation
Central propaganda spaces
Government-regulated commercial spaces
Emergent civic spaces
International deliberative spaces

Central Propaganda Spaces 1

Central Propaganda Spaces 2

Central Propaganda Spaces 3
Salary increase is
offset by rise in
housing price
Hundreds of billions of bad
debt is caused by the
banks’ mismanagement of
of state-owned assets. But
average folks eventually
foot the bill.

Central Propaganda Spaces 4
“We pay great attention to
suggestions and advice
from our netizens. We
stress “putting people first”
and “governing for the
people.” Therefore we listen
to people’s voices and
capitalize on people’s
wisdom when we solve
problems and make
decisions. The Internet is an
important channel for us to
know public concerns and
collect public wisdoms.”
- President Hu Jingtao
June 20, 2008
Photo by Li Ke, ChinaNet from http://tv.people.com.cn/GB/7398332.html

Government-regulated Commercial Spaces 1
Number of Websites under Various Top Applications
Domain Names in China
Domain
Quantity Proportion Online Music (83.7%)
Name
Online News (78.5%)
.CN 2,216,437 77%
Instant Messaging (75%)
.COM 552,898 19.2%
Search Engine (68%)
.NET 87,713 3%
Online Video (67.7%)
.ORG 21,005 0.7%
Total Online Gaming (62.8%)
2,878,053 100.0%
Source: 23rd CNNIC Statistical Survey Report on the Internet Development in China (January 2009)

Government-regulated Commercial Spaces 2

Government-regulated Commercial Spaces 3
Image TOP LEFT: http://www.leedominic.com/
Image BOTTOM LEFT: XinhuaNet
http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2007-08/29/content_6625132.htm
Image RIGHT: Heredict Q blog http://blog.myneverland.org/archives/844

Government-regulated Commercial Spaces 4
Fatianxia.com shut down
on Dec. 16, 2008
Bullog reopens
overseas now.

Government-regulated Commercial Spaces 5
Liu Xiaoyuan:
A young man arrested
for calling his superior
a scum

Emergent Civic Spaces 1

Emergent Civic Spaces 2
Noncommercial Web Site
Registration Regulation

Emergent Civic Spaces 3
Image LEFT: ChinaDaily
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-
10/24/content_275179.htm
Image TOP RIGHT: Eastwood Zhao.com
http://www.eastwoodzhao.com/stubborn-nail-house-
demolished/

Emergent Civic Spaces 4
Activity Types:
online; meetups
sports;
edu/lectures/study
groups
entertainment/games
May 1st.
/movies
Where to go?
concerts/exhibition
travel
conference
Work experience public service
project: Wash dishes
at restaurants

International Deliberative Spaces 1

International Deliberative Spaces 2
Image MIDDLE: waxy.org by Andy Baio

Future Research
Engage reform-minded bureaucrats?
How to grow China’s emergent civil society?
Patterns of online information sharing,
civic/political discourse, collective action?
How to engage China’s digital generations?
Online authoritarian deliberation’s long-term
impact on civic/political participation?