An Analysis of the Anti-American Sentiments Among Some Chinese Internet Users
After the demise of the United States space shuttle, Columbia, some celebratory cheering was posted on Chinese websites. Liu Xiaobo, a renowned writer, published an article on overseas websites analyzing this unfortunate turn of events propagated by some Chinese Internet users. Some Chinese listeners of Voice of America have also made comments via call-in phone lines on the Anti-American sentiments among some Chinese.
A Roman Holiday for Some Chinese
After the Columbia space shuttle tragedy, people and their leaders in many
nations expressed sympathy and condolences, paying their utmost respect for
the American scientists dedicated to the human exploration of outer space. The
Chinese president, Jiang Zemin, also sent a telegraph to President Bush to convey
his sorrow. However, on some of the major websites of China, web users have
made comments expressing their delight in this tragedy. In an article written
for the United States web forum ObserveChina.com, the Beijing-based Chinese
writer Liu Xiaobo conducted some quantitative analysis on the postings of the
major Chinese Internet opinion forums. His study leads him to the conclusion
that although the rejoicing rhetoric on these Internet sites are not as prevalent
as that in the immediate aftermath of the September 11th terrorist
attacks on the U.S., aA whopping 50% of the postings that have appeared
on China’s
two leading Internet services, "sina.com" and "netease.com"
are anti-American gloating over the tragedy of the Columbia. For example, some
Chinese Internet users "thanked Allah for protecting Iraq"; some believed
the Columbia tragedy was "a punishment from Heaven upon the U.S. for its
desire to control the world"; some predicted that "with this disaster
the U.S. would finally decline and China would rise up eventually defeating
the United States; some even regarded the explosion of the Columbia as the "the
most beautiful fireworks for Chinese New Year’s Day!!!" Some held
the sentiment that "today we are really happy...Thanks to the U.S.A. for
giving us such pleasure." And there was also this: "No fireworks
for the Chinese New Year? Now the U.S. has given us the biggest fireworks
to say bye-bye to the past and to welcome the New Year."
Poisoned by Ultra-Nationalism:
What
do we make of these poisonous outbursts of extreme anti-American venom?
Again, the writer Liu Xiaobo analyzed his study in Beijing: "The
outpouring of such extreme anti-Americanism is the result of the poisonous
ultra-nationalism, which undermines common human values, destroying a
decent sense of justice and sympathy, blurring the substantial difference
between liberty and dictatorship, between humanity and anti-humanity,
between goodness and evil, between truth and falsehood, and between civility
and barbarism. Its only sentiment is cold-blooded hatred, its only message
is vulgarity and venting, and its only expression is obscene indelicacy."
Misled by the Government Media Reporting
One
listener from Shandong Province in China called in via VOA’s hot line
today, and provided his own analysis of the anti-American outburst. He believes
that the anti-Americanism in China has resulted from erroneous interpretations
of news events conducted by the Chinese government-controlled media. The listener
stated that "Among today’s Chinese people, there exists an
anti-American feeling. I believe this has been caused by the state and
government that have been deceiving the people. For example, the common
folks do not know the good side and the bad side of the U.S.-China relationship.
And the Chinese government only lets its media outlets tell one side
of the story, twisting the facts this way or that way, thus resulting
in anti-American feelings."
One
Should Not Celebrate Over Others’ Misery
However, in
the Internet discussion group "Strong China Forum" under
the auspices of the People’s Daily, an Internet user named "MBOY6"
has a different perspective on the festive mood of some Chinese over the Columbia
disaster. He states that "a considerable number of "netizens"
who have celebrated over the Columbia disaster are by no means cold-blooded.
They are not celebrating over the loss of human lives, but for the setback of
the United States space programs, which makes him/her happy about one failure
of the American hegemony in its unlimited expansion." Yet one netizen from
Sina.com disagrees with such a view. He believes that even if the U.S. is a
competitor of China, the Chinese people should still not exude happiness over
America’s setback. This netizen, with an Internet name of "Cold Heart,"
says thatsays "Seven people disappeared forever on their way home. In the
eyes of the despicable, this loss of lives constitutes beautiful celebratory
fireworks, with which they decorate their contemptible and shameless vanity.
Jealousy has made these callous people lose basic human sympathy. Even if the
United States is China’s competitor, we should not rest our hope
for superiority on the failure of our opponent. If our superior opponent
tripped and fell, should we applaud for such misfortune? If the majority
of Chinese people think this way, it would be better to move the 2008
Olympics somewhere else."
Internet Alone
Won’t Bring Down
Dictatorship
With the rapid spread of Internet applications,
many people believe this will precipitate the democratization
process in some totalitarian countries, even bringing down
the dictatorial governments. Yet other scholars point out
that despite the fact that the Internet has provided a new
venue for obtaining information, the Internet has not become
a serious threat to the governments in many non-democratic
countries due to governmental monitoring and control.
Internet Used by the Government to Rule
Two
researchers, Shanthil Kalathil and Taylor C. Boas, from the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, have conducted
a study on Internet use in eight authoritarian countries. Their
study concludes that the Internet has not necessarily posed
a threat to authoritarian regimes, especially those that endeavored
to control the Internet from the early stages of its development,
despite the belief held by many that widespread use of
the Internet would constitute serious challenges to dictatorships
and states in self-imposed isolations. "According to our
study of eight countries," says Kalathil of the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace, "we believe that the Internet does not necessarily
pose a threat to dictatorial regimes. They not only view the Internet
as a virus that spreads freedom, but also view it as a tool. The impact
of the Internet is conditioned by the socio-politico and economic environments
in which it is used. This is not to say that the Internet is completely
useless in creating challenges to dictatorial regimes. But we have found
that the Internet is often used by these regimes to strengthen their
power to rule."
Technology to Monitor the Internet Becomes More Advanced
The
target countries of the study conducted by the Carnegie scholars
include China, Singapore, Vietnam and Myanmar in Asia, and
Cuba, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. In China,
Kalathil points out, the government strictly controls the
use of the Internet, blocks en masse the dissident websites
and BBS forums, and restricts the contents of online expressions,
thus making the Internet unable to effectively promote social
openness and democratic values–despite
the fact that more and more people in China are obtaining information from the
Internet, and the emergence of public online forums where expressions and exchanges
of ideas are allowed. Kalathil further points out thatout "the authorities
in China have used laws, surveillance, intimidations, and arrests to
restrict this new form of information dissemination. At present, the
methods used by the Chinese government seem to be working. Internet users
in such dictatorial and closed societies are fearful of persecution by
the government, therefore they avoid touching politically sensitive topics
in their self-expressions. The increasingly sophisticated and complete
cyber surveillance technology the Chinese government has been able to
obtain has made the Internet users unwilling to take the risk of being
arrested to check out restricted websites, or to take part in political
activities by using the Internet."
Self-Censorship by Yahoo! and Others
Kalathil
states that some organizations such as the Falun Gong spiritual
movement and the Chinese Democratic Party are now limited
to exerting their influence overseas through their Internet
websites, despite the fact that they had some initial success
in using the Internet to organize, communicate and to spread
their views. This is because of restriction and obstruction
by the Chinese authorities. In addition, the Chinese government
has realized that it is impossible to build a perfect firewall,
so it has resorted to encouraging self-censorship mechanisms,
demanding Internet service providers such as Yahoo! to
sign agreements with the Chinese government to voluntarily
filter the information going through their networks. The government
of China however does occasionally allow certain critical
views online under certain circumstances to let the people
blow off steam. The government of course uses the Internet
as a tool for propaganda. These developments indicate that
the Chinese government has successfully controlled the
development and usage of the Internet in China.
The Internet Alone is Not Enough
Taylor
C. Boas, who is Kalathil’s co-author of the new book entitled "Open
Networks, Closed Regimes–The Impact of the Internet on Authoritarian Regimes," concludes
in the research that their case study of the eight authoritarian regimes
in the Middle East, Cuba and Asia revealed that the fundamentalist Islamic
views expressed on the Internet in some Middle Eastern countries have
posed direct challenge to the governments in the region that have chosen
to join the United States in the war against terrorism; that the mere
existence of the Internet alone does not guarantee the advancement of
social democracy or regime collapse. Yet in the long run, the Internet
may cause some changes in these societies, and may gradually strengthen
the improvements of social institutions and precipitate economic development,
thus; exerting positive impact upon national development. The two authors
urge the decision-makers of Western countries to recognize this reality,
and promote gradual reforms in these countries through international
infrastructures such as the World Trade Organization and through dialogues
on human rights, because it may take a long time for the Internet to
show its impact upon politics.
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