Analyze on China's middle class and propaganda system

2022.July

1. Rebecca MacKinnon (“Networked Authoritarianism”) challenges the view that the internet and social media will liberate Chinese citizens from government control of public discourse. Brady and Wang go even further and suggest that a modernized propaganda system has yielded a new persuasive form of ‘popular authoritarianism.’ Do you find these views persuasive? Why? Why not? Consider the interview with the “Internet Commentator” in developing your answer (Readings for June 13)

I believe the Chinese Communist Party(CCP) governs, by constructing modern propaganda systems on the Internet, asserts its sovereignty through Popular Authoritarianism. Rebecca's opinion about the Internet and social media will liberate Chinese citizens is very convincing, the current system that government control of public discourse is flawed. But I think this kind of change needs the government to acquiesce and imbue people's concept of democracy for a long time. By 2021, the number of Internet users in China has grown to 1.032 billion, exceeding the total population of Europe and becoming a critical Internet market in the world. Due to the characteristics of freedom, equality and openness of the Internet, people can easily express their opinions on social problems and even influence government policies. At the same time, the government also views the Internet as an effective medium for delivering information and services to the public. The Chinese government urgently needs authority and autonomy in network governance due to China's massive demand for users.

I agree with Brady and Wang that the Chinese government has created a new form of persuasive mass authoritarianism through the propaganda system and believe they controls this system for three reasons: to control the public opinions, to protect the political party, and fight against crime. CCP provides jobs and propaganda for those who follow the Communist psychological rules in the cultural and artistic fields, and they also have police forces dedicated to cyber security and governance, so the Party has tightened its grip on power in recent years1. First, governments need to control the scope of online freedom of expression and stop extreme online populism. People's expression on the Internet more often shows extreme, irrational emotions. Although the freedom of speech is people's right, populist social criticism will hinder normal social development. On the one hand, intense expression is due to the drawback of the social safety net in reality. For example, as the grassroots classes cannot change their real-life situation, they see the wealth of the upper class through the Internet. The imbalanced sharing of social development achievements and the characteristics of anonymity of the web make their harsh language go beyond the reasonable limits of rational thinking under the legal system. They even magnify and fabricate false statements to strengthen their persuasion. On the other hand, the extreme expression is the intimidation of cults or terrorists. They spread terrorist information, conduct cyber violence, and discriminate or incite ethnic hatred. Because of the wide variety of fake and false news online and the inability of the masses to distinguish them, netizens often believe in incorrect information thoroughly or question the confirmed information; hence, the government needs to implement conditional freedom of speech through the publicity system.

Secondly, the government needs to protect the security of national information and the public sector on the Internet to ensure the stability and sovereignty of the regime. The breadth and depth of language use in the cyber world represent the soft power of a country in the cyber world, which profoundly hides the culture and values of a nation and a country2. The propaganda

1 Rebecca MacKinnon, “Liberation Technology: China's ‘Networked Authoritarianism,’” Journal of Democracy, accessed June 25, 2022, https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/liberation-technology-chinas-networked-authoritarianism/, 44. 2 Xueqing Li, Francis L.F. Lee, and Ying Li, “The Dual Impact of Social Media under Networked Authoritarianism: Social Media Use, Civic Attitudes, and System Support in China,” International Journal of Communication, accessed June 25, 2022, https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/5298.

system managed by the Chinese government can also prevent cyber-snooping, cyber espionage, ideological infiltration and colour revolution to the greatest extent. In addition, the new authoritarianism that China insists on keeps the public's low degree of political participation by pressing that the authority of the Communist Party is unchallengeable; On the other hand, when politics is stable, social conflicts can be resolved and alleviated through gradual democratization. When the government acts in line with public opinion, the Internet will prolong the CCP's rule while enhancing the explanatory power of ideology and the rationality and legitimacy of its authority3. Thirdly, the government has the purpose of fighting cyber crimes and hegemonism as they can disrupt social and economic order. Disseminating obscene information, pirated video or fraud is illegal. Moreover, The CCP is also wary of other countries using Internet core technologies, international rules and liberalism to pursue cyber hegemony. In general, the propaganda system and the media are tools to safeguard national interests. Therefore, although Brady and Wang pointed out the disadvantages of government control of public opinion, I still think such a propaganda system is necessary.

While it is true that the voice of the online public is gradually expanding with government encouragement and China is moving in a more democratic direction, there are still problems with the propaganda system under authoritarianism. First of all, authoritarianism leads to the singleness of social voice and the lack of enthusiasm of local social organizations. Secondly, the propaganda system lacks clear management standards, and vague ideals of freedom of speech make the procedure almost rigid, excluding all critical suggestions4. In addition, the development, persistence and deepening of democracy under authoritarianism depend on the government, and even the institutions it establishes rely on the government itself. Above all, the lack of transparency, social injustice and lack of channels for people to participate in political activities can lead to misunderstanding. Excessive authoritarianism may lead to the public's rebellious psychology, which makes the government face a crisis of trust and leads to the decline of the public's political identity.

I suppose the essence of the disagreement about the authoritative political management of the network is the difference between the ideas of liberalism and network sovereignty. Liberal scholars insist that human rights are higher than state sovereignty to guarantee individual freedom, so they believe that state sovereignty in cyberspace will threaten people's freedom and right to access information. However, the theorists of absolute state sovereignty believe that the virtual Internet belongs to the scope of national jurisdiction as well as the physical space and that national sovereignty is exclusive and authoritative. Therefore, they believe that the guidance of Internet freedom strategy is the use of public opinion to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, which is an ideological tool similar to colonialism. I believe the government should adhere to the view of limited sovereignty in cyberspace and establish a diversified network governance structure. It should increase the regulatory responsibilities of the public, businesses and NGOs without diminishing the rights and obligations of the government. CCP also needs to solve people's livelihood issues earnestly, use the Internet to increase the scope of people's political participation and free expression, and further strengthen government information's openness.

3 Brady Marie Anne and Juntao Wang , “China's Strengthened New Order and the Role of Propaganda,” Taylor & Francis, accessed June 25, 2022, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10670560903172832, 787. 4 Ibid,780.

Bibliography

MacKinnon, Rebecca. “Liberation Technology: China's ‘Networked Authoritarianism.’” Journal of Democracy. Accessed June 25, 2022. https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/liberation-technology-chinas-networked-auth oritarianism/. Li, Xueqing, Francis L.F. Lee, and Ying Li. “The Dual Impact of Social Media under Networked Authoritarianism: Social Media Use, Civic Attitudes, and System Support in China.” International Journal of Communication. Accessed June 25, 2022. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/5298. Anne , Brady Marie, and Juntao Wang . “China's Strengthened New Order and the Role of Propaganda.” Taylor & Francis. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10670560903172832.

4. Is China’s emerging middle class more a creation of the Chinese state than a product of China’s developing market institutions? Is it likely to lead the way in pushing for democratic reforms? What is Tomba’s view? What is Nathan’s argument? What is yours? (Readings for June 6)

The emerging conceptual group of the Chinese middle class, on the one hand, represents the transformation of part of the labour force from manual work to technical and mental work; on the other hand, it represents China's economic growth and the improvement of the quality of life. It is the result of the deliberate formulation of both Chinese government policy and the natural development of the market system. Firstly, China’s policies have contributed to the creation of China’s middle class. At the macro level, the policy with significant impact is housing privatization. Through the differential distribution of housing opportunities, the properties that were not evenly distributed during the socialist period can be capitalized, which determines the social status more than income.5 At the same time, policies at the micro level also provide privileged benefits to the urban population, such as high-quality education and infrastructure. Maintaining these people with higher incomes is intended to maintain social stability and reduce the conflict rate. Moreover, as the public sector allocated more real estate opportunities, China‘s middle class is mostly Communist Party members, and their political attitudes are more determined than those of the middle class in private enterprises.6

Secondly, the market system amplifies the initial policy intention, committed to promoting consumer demand. Consumerism is creating the middle class, which is constantly expanding and creating internal distinctions through consumption differences7. At the same time, the marketization of services also encourages the middle class to consume in areas such as tourism and higher education, improving their living standards and promoting the economy. Because of the high standard of living and more opportunities for education, they have a more advanced consciousness, want to feel the right to speak and be heard, and hope to have a more democratic social atmosphere.

Unlike Nathan's point of view, I think that despite the anxiety of the Chinese middle class, they will still moderately become the pioneer in promoting democratic development. Because of their high level of education, they better understand democracy. Unlike the lower classes who are easily incited by extreme populism, they will actively advocate and lead the trend of democracy for the benefit of both themselves and society. First, economic dependence and a low level of identity have led to the insecurity of the new middle class. On the one hand, the employment of the middle class and their stable life of high income depend on reform policies and successful economic development; hence they highly depend on the political party as they hope to protect their personal property.8 On the other hand, the middle class not only exists for a short time but also has no clear definition. Therefore, due to the imperfect welfare mechanism, people do not want to self-cognition as the middle class than working class.9 In addition, despite their relative affluence, the middle class is also worried about the rising cost of living in education, health care, retirement, etc. Because of the anxieties, they actively engage in public policy discussions and strive to improve democracy to protect their personal interests. Unlike Nathan's belief that the

middle class will actively avoid conflict with the government10, I believe the call out for democratic reformation is not same as revolution by force. With the prosperity of the economy and the increase of the middle class, as long as it does not affect the regime's authority, CCP also wants to create a more democratic social environment. The conflicts arising from the requirements of the social environment will not affect citizens’ real-life interests. After the rapid development of the economy, people will care more about spiritual freedom and democracy. Besides, political power is also developing, and the value of liberty should be accepted and supported if it does not exceed the acceptance of the times and contemporary social conditions. Conversely, suppose the economy falters, and society becomes unstable. In that case, the middle class will be more likely to participate in politics and promote democracy, the only system that allows them to keep their property. China's democracy is indeed imperfect. Although China's middle class strongly desires to participate in politics, the public lacks the means to evaluate and participate in politics. Therefore, I sugges the government needs to formulate a series of policies, including improving the legal system, expanding the channels for political participation, popularizing higher education, accelerating urbanization, and improving the middle class's security to expand China's middle class. Only this way can improve the Chinese people's sense of fairness and happiness, reduce the anxiety of the middle class and maintain social stability.

5 Andrew J. Nathan, “The Puzzle of the Chinese Middle Class,” Journal of Democracy (Johns Hopkins University Press, April 15, 2016), https://muse.jhu.edu/article/614514, 8. 6 Tomba, Luigi. “Luigi Tomba's Research Works | Australian National University, Canberra ...” Accessed June 25, 2022. https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Luigi-Tomba-2061515906. 7 Ibid, 9. 8 Narthan, 14.

9 Ibid, 15. 10 Ibid, 5.

Bibliography Nathan, Andrew J. “The Puzzle of the Chinese Middle Class.” Journal of Democracy. Johns Hopkins University Press, April 15, 2016. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/614514. Tomba, Luigi. “Luigi Tomba's Research Works | Australian National University, Canberra ...” Accessed June 25, 2022. https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Luigi-Tomba-2061515906.