Chinese Nationalism in an Unequal Cyber War
Abstract: This article examines the theory and characteristics of surging Chinese cyber-nationalism which is fuelled by antagonism toward Western media’s coverage of the Tibet riots.
It is also fuelled by the media’s coverage of widespread, anti-China protests staged by pro-Tibet activists and China-bashers during the Olympic torch relay in 2008. It is pointed out that cyber-nationalism had an enormous influence upon the Chinese government and its foreign policy decisions.
A huge gulf developed between Chinese netizens and the Western media in their
understanding of human rights and Tibet issues. Chinese netizens, who seemed to have lost their confidence in the mainstream Western media which is represented by the CNN and BBC, began to align with the Chinese government in an asymmetric media battle. They used cyber space to express their views, voice their concerns, disseminate information, and mobilize and rally the support of millions of Chinese nationals. This was to fight against the Western media’s bias, prejudice, and misrepresentation, to protect and safeguard their national sovereignty, pride
and territorial integrity, and to shore up China’s position over the Tibet issue.
[China Media Research. 2009;5(4):63-79]
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment