A Study on the Relations between Information and Communication Technology and the Popular Resistance in China: Focusing on Smartphone and Social Media and its Impact on Popular Resistance

Abstract

China has achieved rapid economic growth and development since the economic reform in 1978. At the same time, this massive social transformation has brought with it different kinds of stress such as growing social disparities with inefficient policy measures. In the early years of the economic reform, farmers` resistance against illegal taxes and fees by rural governments used to be a root cause of unrest in rural China. In urban China, labor disputes over SOE (State-Owned Enterprises) reform and housing issues were the other causes of unrest in this period. Entering the 21st century, China has maintained a high growth rate through a government-led drive and global integration. Additionally, China faces a serious potential outbreak of social upheaval caused by exacerbating social disparities coupled with growing consciousness of human right among the public. Meanwhile, development of Information and Communication Technology(ICT) and its mass propagation are another noteworthy change in Chinese society. Traditional communicating tools, telegraphs and wired telephones were followed by mobile phones and the Internet in the 2000s. And more recently, with the widespread adoption of smartphones, microblogging and instant messaging service have become pervasive and influential in peoples` lives. This paper presents the evolution of Chinese ICT development since the economic reform to the present time by breaking it down to three different periods: 1) before the emergence of mobile phone and Internet (1980s-90s), 2) propagation of mobile phones and the Internet (2000s), 3) rapid diffusion of Smartphones and social media services (2010s). Through the periodization, it analyses different aspects of China`s popular resistance in each phase in the context of motivations, participants and spatial boundaries of protests. It also introduces changing role of ICT involving popular resistance and government response over time. This study argues that continuously evolving information and communication technology have a direct and indirect impact on the changing patterns of popular contention in China. Characteristics of popular contention have been broadened to encompass various new traits added over time. Far reaching powers represented by the immediate and easy accessibility of ICT have enabled various people with diversified motivations to participate in popular protests. In addition, the locations of protests have expanded from local boundaries to national boundaries moving across online and offline spaces. The role of ICT in popular contention in China have been widened over decades. Traditional communicating tools were used for information distribution and protest mobilization. In the 2000s, mobile phones and the Internet bulletin boards provided space of public discourse and online activism while maintaining existing functions. More recently, microblogging and instant messaging facilitate civil journalism and provide an outlet for citizens to express their anger and discontent. Moreover, the mobilization of public opinion through the new media exert growing influence on government action. In response to these popular contentions, the local government traditionally used a mode of suppression, when it comes to resistances that threatened social stability. Entering the information age, the central government not only maintains old-fashioned intimidation tactics, but also swiftly reacts by adopting a mix of sophisticated technologies and legislative supplementation.