| by B. Raman
( November 04, 2012, Chennai, Sri Lanka
Guardian)
What the people think of their leadership and government will be increasingly
reflected not in the traditional print and TV media, but in the digital media
and in the blogs and micro-blogs of the digital world. The digital image of
China in the international net community will increasingly influence
governmental and non-governmental perceptions of China. Future prejudices of
China will be born not in the columns of the print media and in the radio and
TV reports, but in the mushrooming blogs and micro-blogs of the digital world.
It is important for leaders and policy-makers to pay attention to what is being
discussed in the digital world and to be able to interact with the digital
world. Future stability will depend not only on what happens in the real world,
but also on what happens in the digital world.
 |
A rigidly-controlled State like China has realised the importance of direct interactions between policy-makers and social media users for perception management, for identifying and addressing the grievances of the people and for creating a greater level of trust and comfort between the people and the leadership.
These are some
of the features of the world of the 18th Congress of the Communist Party of
China (CPC) being highlighted by the analysts of the prelude to the Congress which
is starting at Beijing on November 8,2012. An article by Dennis Pamlin of 21st
New Frontiers, a consultancy organization in Sweden, carried by the “China
Daily” on November 2,2012, says:
“In
the coming years China's image will be increasingly shaped in a connected
world, a world in which people will not only be passive consumers of
information, many of them will be active providers of information through
different social media. In a connected world people will trust their social
networks more than traditional media, and the social networks with the most
trust will create a virtual image of China.
“This
digital image of China will be determined by the images, stories, comments,
blogs and videos posted online, rather than through the print media, television
and radio. So China must pay attention to its "digital twin".
“In a
connected world it is no longer enough to do good things and tell people about
them, it is also necessary to engage in dialogue with people around the world.
If China does not engage in these dialogues, its digital twin will end up
distorted.
“We
are rapidly moving into a hyper-connected society where transparency and
enormous amounts of information are creating new opportunities and new
challenges. In order to overcome the challenges and seize the opportunities it
is important that China, and those with an understanding of China, explore new
ways to encourage dialogue so that its digital twin is not shaped to suit
others' agendas.”
According to the
“China Daily”, on November 1,2012, many party functionaries opened their own
micro-blogs in their real names and started interacting directly with party
cadres and people. One of those who has thus started interacting is Yu
Zhengsheng, Secretary of the Shanfghai Municipal Committee of the CPC and a
member of the CPC Politbureau, who is being tipped to join the new Standing
Committee of the Politbureau as one of its seven members.
In a message
posted on his micro-blog, he said: "It is the responsibility, instead of
the power, that the official position gives to us. We're not special. We cannot
be above the law. Assuming the responsibility of serving the people is the key
of an official's work.” According to the “China Daily”, this is not the first
time he is directly interacting through the web with party cadres and the general public. He has been doing it
before.
Zhang Qingli,
secretary of the Hebei Provincial Committee of the CPC, said in his microblog:
"We should provide a chance for people who have a desire to work, a stage
for people with working capabilities, and important posts for those who have
had achievements before. What we should do is to encourage diligent officials,
criticize the ones who can only deliver lip service, and deal with those who
create disorder on our team. We cannot arrange idle positions and feed idlers.
The key is to implement what we say in conferences and write on
documents."
Zhang Baoshun,
secretary of the Anhui Provincial Committee of the CPC, microblogged: “Officials at all levels should be modest and
close to the public. Our posts and power are not for showing off. We'd better
have more closeness to residents and avoid bureaucracy. As for fact-finding
trips to grassroots areas, high-level officials should not ask people to
accompany them. Instead, we should dispense with all unnecessary formalities,
and not burden and disturb local people."
The China Daily
has quoted Zhou Xiaopeng, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Sina, an online
microblogging service, as saying that though many Chinese officials and
governmental departments began to use micro blogs to interact with netizens two
years ago, "it is only now that so many high-level officials interact with
Web users via a popular online platform.”
In addition to
encouraging the party functionaries and officials to use the social media sites
for direct and continuous interactions with party cadres and the public, the
Chinese Government has also been closely monitoring the use of these sites by
foreign embassies in Beijing for digital interactions with the people in order
to influence their perceptions.
The “China
Daily” reported on November 3,2012:
“ The
micro blogs have become an important platform for foreign governments to
promote public diplomacy in China and pose an increasing influence on China's
Internet, said the first research report on foreign governments' micro blogs in
China, which was released on Friday. ( November 2)
“According
to the report, the number of foreign government micro blogs surged in 2011,
bringing the total by the end of June to 165 on the top four micro-blogging
sites - Sina, Tencent, Netease and Sohu. Those of the United States and Britain
were the most influential, said the report. "These micro blogs have cast
enormous influence on the Chinese public, especially the Chinese netizen. The
foreign governments promote not only their culture, education and tourism
resources through the micro blogs, but also forge close interaction with
Chinese netizens and opinion leaders on ideology," said
Zhang Zhi'an, associate professor of the School of Communication and Design
under Sun Yat-sen University. "Social media evokes public passion to
talk about some serious issues which we don't often talk about in our daily
life, and that's the way these foreign governments' micro blogs influence
Chinese netizens in a subtle way that they didn't even notice," said
Zhang, who led the research.
A rigidly-controlled
State like China has realised the importance of direct interactions between policy-makers
and social media users for perception management, for identifying and
addressing the grievances of the people and for creating a greater level of
trust and comfort between the people and the leadership. Because of our
over-cautious and conservative policies relating to the use of social media
networks for direct and active interaction with the people, we in India
continue to treat them more as a source of danger than as an asset for building
public confidence in the leadership and the policy-makers. There is an urgent
need for a change in our attitudes and policies.
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd),
Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director,
Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For
China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com
Twitter @SORBONNE75)
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