Harmony Or Hegemony? Chinese Citizen Perceptions of the Tiananmen Square Demonstrations of 1989, Taiwan Independence, and Tibetan Soveireignty
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
HARMONY OR HEGEMONY? CHINESE CITIZEN PERCEPTIONS OF THE TIANANMEN SQUARE DEMONSTRATIONS OF 1989, TAIWAN INDEPENDENCE, AND TIBETAN SOVEIREIGNTY Nicholas Bardo A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS May 2014 Committee: Hyeyoung Bang, Advisor Bruce Collet Marc Simon ii ABSTRACT Hyeyoung Bang, Advisor The Tiananmen Square Demonstrations of 1989, the Taiwanese independence movement and the claims for Tibetan Sovereignty, collectively referred to as the Three T’s, are issues suppressed and censored within the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The two research questions which anchored this thesis were 1) How is knowledge related to Tiananmen Square, Taiwan, and Tibet communicated? 2) To what degree does the government censored discourse involving Tiananmen Square, Taiwanese independence, and Tibetan sovereignty affect citizen perceptions of government and their role as citizens? To understand this phenomenon, a thorough literature review outlined the socio-cultural foundations of the PRC, the Chinese educational system, the historical background related to each of the Three T’s, and an overview of the Chinese media. An initial process of inductive grounded theory data collection, coding, and analysis yielded a categories and subcategories explaining the phenomenon from participant voices. Next, the grounded theory deductively coded through the lens of discursive analysis, cultural reproduction, and symbolic violence. The findings discussed how 11 Chinese citizens perceived these events and through which means was their knowledge of these events constructed. The core category, censorship, anchored the findings for both research questions. Regarding how knowledge of the Three T’s was communicated, categories of educational pedagogical authority, media pedagogical authority, and family and community pedagogical authority organized the findings. Regarding the second research question, subcategories of perceptions of the education system, lack of critical thinking, academic and social pressure, Internet, Japan, special treatment of minority groups, perceptions of government, and the role of democracy created a holistic understanding of a complex socio-cultural context. iii Dedicated to Jo and Maya iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost I would like to thank my thesis advisor Dr. Bang for her extensive feedback, support, guidance and encouragement throughout this process. I would also like to thank Dr. Collet and Dr. Simon for taking time on my behalf to also provide feedback, guidance, and support in the development of this thesis and for their class readings, lectures, and assignments which inspired me throughout this process. Lastly, I would like to thank the participants who willingly stepped out of their comfort zones to spend time and discuss sensitive political issues with a laowai. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................. 10 Historical Background of Contemporary Chinese Values ......................................... 10 Historical background of Collectivism .......................................................... 11 The Mandate of Heaven: A legacy of authoritarian rule ............................... 15 Contemporary Chinese Values .................................................................................. 16 Chinese Education System ......................................................................................... 19 Policy Position of CPC Central Committee ................................................... 19 A Legacy of Exams ........................................................................................ 24 Higher Education ........................................................................................... 25 Political Ideology in Chinese Education ........................................................ 26 1989 Tiananmen Square Demonstrations ................................................................. 26 Tibetan Sovereignty ................................................................................................... 31 Taiwan Independence ............................................................................................... 38 Chinese Media ........................................................................................................... 44 Chinese Internet Censor Apparatus ............................................................... 45 Chinese Print Media Censor Apparatus ......................................................... 48 Chinese Television Censor Apparatus ........................................................... 50 Repercussions for Citizens ......................................................................................... 51 The Xiamen PX case ...................................................................................... 52 Conceptual Framework .............................................................................................. 53 vi Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................. 54 Discursive Analysis ....................................................................................... 54 Cultural Reproduction and Symbolic Violence ............................................. 55 Chapter Summary ...................................................................................................... 56 What Is Known So Far ................................................................................... 57 CHAPTER III. METHOD ..................................................................................................... 58 Chapter Overview ...................................................................................................... 58 Conceptual Framework .............................................................................................. 58 Phase One – Grounded Theory .................................................................................. 59 Phase Two – Deductive Analysis .............................................................................. 59 Research Design and Methodology ........................................................................... 60 Justification and Importance of Grounded Theory ........................................ 60 Grounded Theory Process .............................................................................. 62 Participants ..................................................................................................... 63 Description of Participants ............................................................................. 63 Overview of Methods ................................................................................................ 66 Ethical Clearance ........................................................................................... 66 Data Collection ............................................................................................. 66 Interview Protocol ...................................................................................................... 67 Examples of Interview Questions .................................................................. 68 Memoing ........................................................................................................ 68 Member Checking .......................................................................................... 68 Post Interview Process ............................................................................................... 68 vii Increasing rigor in accuracy and reducing researcher bias ............................ 69 Investigator and data triangulation................................................................. 69 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................ 70 Core Category and Sub Category: Constant Comparative Analysis ............. 70 Coding Scheme .............................................................................................. 71 Open Coding .................................................................................................. 72 Axial Coding ................................................................................................. 74 Forming a Grounded Theory ......................................................................... 76 Deductive Analysis ........................................................................................ 76 Chapter Summary ..................................................................................................... 80 CHAPTER IV. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................ 81 Chapter Overview ...................................................................................................... 81 Core Category – Censorship ...................................................................................... 82 Discussion ...................................................................................................... 85 Deductive Analysis ........................................................................................ 87 Discursive Formation ........................................................................