Week 12 CHINA'S CYBER DIPLOMACY

CHINA'S CYBER DIPLOMACY
China now has over millions online forums and 220 million bloggers, and over 3 million posts/comments are posted online daily, according to the white paper report on China’s Internet Status released by the State Council Information Office, June 2010. According to the report from the China Internet Network Information Center, China Internet population hits 384 million by January 2010.
Realizing the radical growth of the internet user population and the potentials of massive online conversations exchange, Hu administration started to use Cyber diplomacy as a propaganda tool, in 2008, to further manufactures consensus and therefore strengthened the status quo.
In the recent speech given by the Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi, at the Closing Ceremony of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, the “New Era” of diplomacy was specified with the re-emphasis on the Chinese characters and the power of people diplomacy, which directly answered the question why the Hu administration put so much effort in regulating online communication. Yang emphasized the four key elements of the “Chinese characterized diplomacy” in the 21st century, which are “Hosting Galas”, “Combat Crises”, ‘Foster Development’ and “Establish National Image”. This statement echoed with the argument about the “three pronged cyber strategy of China’s cyber strategy, which are “pacifying the populace, managing the negative influences of the Internet and yoking the power of networking while maintaining CPC authority” (Hachigian 2001)

“Ichat” with Chairman Hu:
"Ichat” with President Hu is no longer a news, and there is even a online fans club of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao called “Shi Jin Ba Bao Fan” (which is originally the name of a popular Chinese dessert).
Take a look at the top news in Xinhua News Agency's publications, you can easily find headlines such as-- "President Hu Ichat with netizens," " Premier Wen Ichat with netizens," "President Hu's New Year Speech now available online", "President Hu Ichat with kids on the first day back to school", "President Hu joining People's Daily's online discussion board"
Given the high levels of cross-border connectivity in cyber-world, new approaches for cyber-security must include the international dimension. Thus, instead of exclusively imagining cyber-defence or cyber-war, Chinese government has realized that it is also important to begin to construct cyber-diplomacy.
The Practice of the Fifty Cents Party (Wu Mao Dang):
The massive online comments, blogs and posts exchange among the citizens has caught up the attention of the Hu administration. "Wu Mao Dang" which literally means "Fifty Cents Party" then came into the online public sphere. “Wu Mao Dang” is a meme mocking that the fact that the Hu administration hires netizens to comment on most of the internet users’ posts/blogs/videos with only positive messages about the government, in the hope of building positive image of the Hu administration. Each comment earns the poster 50 cents compensation.
For better and for worse, the Wu Mao Dang is always there. During the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, and for the crises situation with the Tibet Riots, the mis-fire accident related to one of the local government officials’ embezzlement in Shanghai this month all have the “Wu Mao Dang”s contribution to the online discussion board/forums and blogs to write about only the positive aspects of the situation. The way the 50 Cent Party has made genuine debate online about China virtually impossible. They used the propaganda tactics, such as shifting focuses, using narratives to try to always win the debate. For example, they will say "You can't talk, you Americans had slavery" and trying to shift the focus of the debate away from the issue at hand and questioning anyone's right to even discuss China outside of China. What's worse, the wide presence of the Wu Mao Dang has made the Chinese netizens lose their faith on the internet discussion and becoming afraid of any potential government retaliation, and think any pro-government comment is paid for by the Communist Party, thus dismissing what could in fact be genuine comments that deserve a closer look.
Chinese internet users even made up an image to mock on the Wu Mao Dang:

The symbol of “Wu Mao Dang” : It’s a Chinese 50 cents bill with the “Grass-Mud Horses” which is a internet meme with the connotation of “Fuck you”