Censorship in Cyberspace: Accommodation and Resistance Among Chinese Netizens
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by CUHK Digital Repository Censorship in Cyberspace: Accommodation and Resistance Among Chinese Netizens CHANG, Xinyue A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Philosophy in Anthropology The Chinese University of Hong Kong September 2012 Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................. i Chapter 1. Introduction ....................................................................................... 1 Introduction: “The Google-China Affair” ...................................................... 2 Chinese Returnees .......................................................................................... 4 The Nascent Public Sphere, Censorship, and the Google-China Affair ........ 5 An Historical Perspective ............................................................................. 13 Methodology ................................................................................................ 21 Chapter Breakdown ...................................................................................... 24 Chapter 2. Literature Review ........................................................................... 26 The Anthropology of Cyberspace ................................................................ 26 China’s Cyberspace ...................................................................................... 36 Nationalism and Chinese Nationalism ......................................................... 39 Chapter 3. The Google-China Affair................................................................ 53 The Sage of Google and China .................................................................... 58 Reviewing the Saga through the Eyes of Chinese Returnees ...................... 63 Follow-Up .................................................................................................... 77 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 77 Chapter 4. Freedom of Information ................................................................. 79 Universal Human Rights vs. Cultural Relativism ........................................ 79 Individual Agency vs. State Control ............................................................ 85 Market Domination vs. State Control .......................................................... 90 The Concept of Rationality .......................................................................... 92 Responses to Moral Discipline .................................................................... 97 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 101 Chapter 5. Freedom of Speech ....................................................................... 103 Freedom in Relation to Speech .................................................................. 105 Twitter and Sina Weibo ............................................................................. 109 Liu Xiaobo ................................................................................................. 116 Ai Weiwei .................................................................................................. 119 The Chinese Jasmine Movement ............................................................... 122 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 124 Chapter 6. Conclusion: Censorship and Chinese Nationalism ................... 129 The Conundrum of Self-Flagellating National Pride ................................. 130 Repressive Hypothesis ............................................................................... 136 1 Presentation of Self and Rituals of Rebellion ............................................ 141 Collective Memory Construction ............................................................... 149 Conclusion: Censorship and Nationalism .................................................. 151 Bibliography ..................................................................................................... 156 2 Abstract Abstract of thesis entitled: Censorship in Cyberspace: Accommodation and Resistance among Chinese Netizens Submitted by Chang, Xinyue for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Anthropology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in June 2012 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. i 摘 要 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。 ii Acknowledgement I am immensely indebted to myriad people in writing this thesis. First of all, I cannot express more gratitude to my graduate advisor, Professor Gordon Mathews. He has not only strongly inspired me intellectually but also offered enormous support to me through all my years of graduate studies. No less is my indebtedness to other two members of my thesis committee, Professor Joseph Bosco and Professor Wu Keping. As an anthropologist with an interest in cyberspace, Professor Bosco has been like another graduate advisor to me in helping me intellectually and practically. Professor Wu could not be more sincere and considerate in providing me with useful research comments, reading materials and intellectual encouragements. Additionally, I thank my external examiner for his comments. I also would like to thank all other faculty members and staffs in the Department of Anthropology at CUHK for their kind help and sincere cooperation. I thank all my informants who significantly contributed to my research in Beijing, Hong Kong and Richmond, Virginia by providing information, local connections and even accommodation for me. Friends and colleagues are always the most important companions for graduate students. A special thank you is due to Edwin Schmitt whose careful proofreading and editing of this thesis saved me from many embarrassing mistakes. iii Chapter 1. Introduction In this thesis, I examine what censorship means to Chinese returnees, and to what extent they resist or accommodate to censorship. Censorship is a classic representation of Chinese-style paternalistic and totalitarian governmentality. This tradition has been extended to the virtual world and has been showing its impact on people’s everyday lives. The research uses “the Google China affair” as a window through which to investigate how Chinese netizens view the issue of internet censorship. While this is a means to better understand to what extent Western ideas of neoliberalism and individual rights have been accepted at a local level, it may also more broadly, enable us to better understand how the progress of globalization/Westernization affects China, a historically self-contained and self-enclosed country. Focusing on Chinese returnees, a subgroup of people who are cross-culturally cultivated, may provide a useful lens to look at these issues since they not only have distinctive internet-using experiences but also the background of being assimilated to Western culture. In short, this thesis is about understanding how those who have lived outside China understand Chinese internet censorship in order to provide a useful glimpse into a current transformation of nationalism within a globalizing China. This thesis is different from many other examinations of internet censorship in that I am sometimes quite critical towards my informants. I tried to stand back and be an observer rather than a commenter during my fieldwork, but not in my subsequent analysis of their words. Being a Chinese returnee myself, it provides me a chance to better understand my informants’