Page 141 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Chapter 5. The Sun Zhigang incident

core force’ in civil society. They gathered together in the form of reading groups and

openly expressed their views on public affairs.
As discussed above, the turning point in the Sun Zhigang case was when legal
experts and scholars filed a petition to the NPCSC. Before the two rounds of formal
petitions were filed, legal experts and lawyers discussed the problems involved in the
Sun Zhigang case in online forums and meetings. They actually formed a small civil

society group that made its way to the NPCSC and delivered the voice of the public to
the authorities, whereas the general public’s discussion and participation in the case can
be considered as ‘grassroots civil society’ that was stimulated by the evolution of ICT,

which enabled equal participation in such a centralism state. The only difference is that
public participation in China takes place in cyberspace, whereas in western countries, it
usually takes the form of offline activities.
Oldenburg (1997) coined the term ‘the third place’ to refer to the physical area
where citizens can participate in and discuss social, political and public affairs. It is a

generic designation where ‘regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gath-
erings of individuals’ are hosted (Oldenburg, 1997, p.16). Thus, the third place here
can be treated as the area where citizens can participate and discuss social, political and

various public affairs in the real world. Since it is extremely difficult to form an assem-
bly to discuss sensitive topics like the Sun Zhigang case in China, the creation of a ‘third
place’ as a public medium for citizens to congregate for information exchange or form
public opinions is hardly possible. Individuals who organise or attend a real-world as-
sembly may face penalties from the government.

The internet, according to Tai (2006, p.169-171) was seen as the ‘fourth place’ for
the following reasons:
• It created a brand-new social space as opposed to the history of human com-

munication in the ‘third space’ and traditional media communication; new
communicative possibilities and new social relationships were cultivated.
• internet-based communication extends beyond relations in the physical world
and redefines them. The internet is both informational and participational,
hence, it brings people together and invites the participation of those who

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