Page 35 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Chapter 2. Literature review

serves as a tool for both communication and socialisation in China, and it has provided

a means for the achievement of civil society in an increasingly networked world (Tai,
2006). Although there are difficulties created by the government’s control, the inter-
net is still a technology that empowers civil society to negotiate with government and
brings new prospects for civil society in the new age. Unlike the conventional mass me-

dia, the internet as both a social space and a new media market is very relevant to the
study of civil society in recent years. It can be seen as a liberating force that promotes
the formation of civil society, especially in centralised regimes like China.

2.3 Conceptualising the Chinese internet as a quasi-public

sphere

2.3.1 The physical existence of a public sphere in China

After the concept of the public sphere was introduced in China, it aroused heated
discussion in academia. Cai (2012) analysed it from a historical perspective. The so-

cial structure of ancient Chinese society was based on the notion of jia guo yi ti, which
means the integration of family and state, and the power of the state was entrusted to
the monarch. Under the rigid hierarchy system, individuals were restricted to the family

space. This social structure resulted in the loss of individual expression for public rights
and embodied a deficiency in the independence of societal growth. A highly author-
itarian society generated long-term suppression and top-down constraints, which led
to a lack of awareness of independent expression and civic rights. The informal social

structure squeezed individuals’ power and blocked channels for public participation
(Cai, 2012). Deng (2011) pointed out that, in modern China, the relationship between
society and the government has evolved to a state in which the two sectors depend on

each other but also contradict. Yet he also argued that the dependent relationship is in
the leading role. Gao (2012) argued that Chinese society over this period has not had
the opportunity to form a public sphere.
Traditions in Chinese politics did not include a clear separation between the

‘private sphere’ and the ‘public sphere’; society and the state were regarded as an inte-

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