Search results

Taking the approach of surveillance studies, this research aims to advance a balanced and context-rich understanding of how microblogging affords a variety of surveillance practices over Chinese society and of its impact. The study identifies the distinct features of grassroots surveillance, including anti-authoritarism, decentralisation and poor organisation, as well as rumour, entertainment and violence. Grassroots surveillance, enabled by microblogging, poses challenges to state surveillance, which seeks rationality, efficiency, social stability and solidarity. Grassroots surveillance creates huge impacts on Chinese society, including truth, morality, trust and power. The surveillance structure is experiencing a paradigmatic shift from panopticon to post-panopticon. Consequently, this study identifies a bankruptcy of disciplinary society that is based on panopticon surveillance, but without a possible formation of a controlled society that is based on post-panopticon. Instead, the social change enabled by microblogging-based surveillance falls into what Scott Lash called "disorganization". (China/GIGA)

In this article we examine the role of microblogging in the ongoing process of social change in China, focusing on its impacts on the formation of civil society and the public sphere. We identify several important features of Chinese microblogging, including an antiauthoritarian stance, opinion leaders, and organized campaigns. Theoretically, these features reflect two major social processes that are simultaneously taking place in China today: modernization and globalization. Through microblogging, these processes influence each other to achieve three possible consequences of social change: fragmentation, development of civil society and the public sphere, and networked violence. Our analysis indicates the failure of civil society and the public sphere to develop as well as the rise of networked violence. (Asian Perspec/GIGA)

This article explores the impacts of Chinese culture on users' attitudes and intentions about software copyright and piracy. The findings reject the pervasive position that Chinese culture resists software copyright and encourages piracy behaviors. Instead, the study reports that Chinese culture has no significant impact on users' intentions to use pirated software programs. Meanwhile, collectivistic and individualistic cultural components are found to coexist in the Chinese value system. The users with higher scores in the collectivistic component have more negative attitudes towards software companies, while the users with higher scores in the individualistic component have less negative attitudes towards software products. The coexistence of individualistic and collectivistic components prevents software users from falling into either direction of supporting or opposing software copyright and calls for a balanced account between software owners and users.

China's telecommunications and information industry has seen unprecedented growth since the turn of the century, with the mobile telephony sector driving significant expansion. This article examines the Chinese government's strategy for managing the complexities of socio-economic changes created by the widespread adoption of mobile telephony. The study found that the government's adoption of subtler forms of power establishes a relational contract with Chinese telecommunications and information industry partners and citizenry as a foundation for implementing the strategy of controlled commodification. This contract acts to modify and clarify operational boundaries within private and public spheres in an attempt to manage often competing economic, social and political objectives.

The main purposes of government environmental policy include improving the objective natural environment as well as reducing the health risk of the public. A majority of studies have tested the means of achieving the first goal. In this paper, we aimed to gather empirical evidence pertaining to the realization of the second goal by drawing on a quasi-natural experiment that was conducted based on the "Action Plan on Air Pollution Prevention and Control" issued in 2013 (AP2013). The research data came from the tracking data of 17,766 individuals from 112 prefecture-level cities of China in 2012 and 2014. Through ordinal logistic regression and DID analysis, a causal relationship between the AP2013 policy and public health risk perceptions was verified, indicating that this policy can significantly decrease public health risk perceptions. By constructing different subsamples, an inverted U-shaped relationship between the causal effect and the length of the policy implementation window was established, which demonstrated the short-term signal effect and long-term implementation effect of this policy. The conclusions can help with the communication and implementation of a government's policy.

Relevance. In recent years, China's GDP has continued to grow, however, the regional gap in socio-economic development is still huge. It is, therefore, crucial to investigate the reasons behind regional disparities and the possible solutions to this problem. Research objective. This paper aims to examine the patterns of regional differences in mainland China after the economic reform of the 1970s.Data and methods. The study relies on the methods of comparative analysis and the data from the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China and the Statistical Yearbook Sharing Platform as well as the information from the national media portal - Xinhua News Agency. Results. The Chinese government's application of differentiated measures, strategies and policies to different regions exacerbated the existing disparities. This paper elaborates on the future regional economic adjustments and plans and thus can be of interest to investors and business activists in China and other countries.

Historical and Intellectual Context -- Lu Jia and the New Discourses -- Xinyu and its Editions -- Our Principles of Translation and Annotation -- Translations into Western languages -- New Discourses -- The Foundation of the Way -- Recounting [Past] Events -- Assisting in Government -- Non-Action -- Resolving Delusion -- Attention to the Subtle -- Aides of Quality -- Utmost Virtue -- Embracing [Consistent] Thoughts -- Acting on the [Right] Basis -- Perceptible Warnings -- Thinking of One's Responsibilities.