Discussion essay
American influence on China through the Internet
by Zhizhong Li
October 17, 2001
The United States entered the 21st century in a position of dominance that surpasses anything it experienced in the 20th. Today, the nation far outstrips its nearest rivals in economic and military power and cultural influence. Americaís ideology of free market is the worldís ideology. The nationís Internet is the pioneering technology of tomorrow.
The United States is the leader in information and communication industries today. For example, many personal computers have Pentium, a product of Intel Co., as a CPU, Windows of Microsoft Co. as OS, and Explorer of the same company as Internet Explorer, and in addition there are still a lot of Mac fans. Companies such as IBM, Dell and Compaq are the biggest manufactures of computers in the world. Moreover, in the computer industry, those enterprises that have controlled the standards of manufacturing come to reign in not only sales of computers but also setting-up of communication networks. Besides, the dominant language in computer communication is English, which gives the United States another advantage.
Since China opened its door to the world in 1970s, the countryís political structure, economy, cultural atmosphere, traditions, and peopleís life have changed dramatically. Chinese reformers are eager to learn advanced technologies from western countries. At the same time, western countries consider China as a big market in Asia and try to make is as beneficial as possible to themselves. The United States is the most important one in the western world that has a big influence to China.
The Sino-U.S. relationship has always been a sensitive one among international relations not only because of their different political systems but distinguishing cultures and traditions. U.S. government proclaims that American objectives are to ìprotect and advance U.S. interestsî and ìenlarge the world community of secure, democratic and free market economicsî (The White House 1996, pp. 12-13). Chinaís economic reform gives the United States a good chance to try to achieve this objective in Asia. With its door wide open to the world, China unavoidably has to deal with the influence from the United States. This discussion essay tries to explore the influences that the United States brought to China over the Internet.
The usage of the Internet in China
The advent of American advanced computer technologies made the ìinformation ageî in China possible. The Internet in China is undergoing phenomenal growth. According to the statistics from China Internet Network Information Center released in July 2001, China has 10,020,000 computer hosts and 26,500,000 Internet users. Among them, 4,540,000 use leased line connections, 17,930,000 are dial-up users, and 4,030,000 use both. Besides computer users, people who use other equipment (e.g. mobile terminals and information electrical appliance) are 1,070,000. There are now more than 128,362 domain names registered under ì.CNî and 242,739 Web sites in China.
The vast majority of the Internet users are in their 20s and 30s with good education and incomes. Many of Chinaís intellectuals and opinion leaders now frequently surf the Web. Most Chinese Internet users use the Web from home (61%), while others log online at work (45.1%), at school (18.3%) or at Internet cafes (15.2%). The most famous Feiyu Net CafÈ near Beijing Universityís South gate started its business in 1997 with only 25 computers. Today, Feiyu Net CafÈ has 1,605 computers. The average number of customers everyday can reach about 10,000. This shows Internet use in China is expanding far faster than many anticipated.
American influence through the Internet
In China, Internet itself is an ìAmerican imageî although the Chinese government has been trying to boost its own IT industry. Those well-known American companies almost all have branches in China, such as Microsoft, IBM, Compaq. The prosperity of Chinese IT business still largely relies on technologies from those American companies. Because of this unique relationship between the two countries in IT industry and the easy access of the Web, the American influence on China through the Internet appears to be more irresistible than itself in the history.
Political dilemma for the Chinese government
The Chinese authorities know that China needs the benefits the Internet brings but fear the political fallout from the free information on the Web. President Jiang Zemin once said ìthe melding of the traditional economy and information technology will provide the engine for the development of the economy and society in the 21st century.î But in an interview on 60 Minutes, he told Mike Wallace ìWe need to be selective. We hope to restrict as much as possible information not conducive to Chinaís development.î
China opened its door to the Internet, and it lost much of its ability to limit Chinese citizensí access to information. Chinese citizens found it became easier to verity or refute versions of events they hear from the Government by checking the Internet. The Internet has become an important communication medium for those Chinese officials who want to promote political reform and freer expression. Some Web sites post frank critiques of Chinese society and the government. In October 2000, Chinese government promulgated the Internet Information Services Regulations, which ban the dissemination of any information that might harm unification of the country, endanger national security, or subvert the government. Therefore, Web sites that have ìanti-governmentî content are usually deleted quickly. However, with uncountable Web sites in the world, it is impossible for Chinese government to shut down every Web site.
With the key word ìanti-China,î Google search engine can generate about 8,350 results. Many of these Web sites provide information that Chinese citizens cannot usually get from Chinese media. Even on Chinese Web sites, information about how to use proxy servers to bypass official blocks appears regularly. The American propaganda tool, Voice of America, can reach many Chinese readers via e-mail news. Even the Bible is easy to find for Chinese surfers. Famous Chinese search engines like Sohu, Sina.com.cn, Yahoo China and Netease can show thousands of hits of Bible sites.
The Chinese government has developed Web censorship program. But facing the daily updated information on the Web sites from the United States and other western countries, cyber censorship is a big challenge for the Chinese government in the 21st century.
Internet: A better way to understand American culture
After the Chinese government started the economic reform, Chinese people had the chance to observe the world outside. From newspaper, radio and TV, Chinese people gradually experienced American culture. However, with the limits set up by the government, the information from traditional media was far from enough for Chinese people to understand American culture.
The Internet truly allows Chinese people to explore American culture. Many Chinese Web users can access to American Web sites. With the English education and the development of translation software, understanding the content on American Web sites is not a problem for Chinese surfers. Information about the United States also appeared on Chinese Web sites. Those famous Chinese Web sites like Sohu.com, 263.net, 163.net and Sina.com.cn all have a section called ìGoing Abroad.î In that section, users can find a lot of detailed information about American culture.
The commercial power of the Internet is a big aid for American companies to run business in China. Because the credit card system is still not well developed in China, online shopping expands slowly. But the Internet does a good job to promote American brands. Today, names like ìNike,î ìGap,î ìTommy Hilfigerî are not something new for many Chinese people. American food also tried to compete with traditional Chinese food on the Internet. On 263.net, users can find all American restaurants in Beijing. The site offers reviews of these restaurants, pictures, price information, and even driving directions.
American influence also has a huge impact to China in entertainment area. Chinese Web users can easily access to Web sites for information written both in English and Chinese about Hollywood movies. Chinese music fans listen to contemporary songs like Americans do. Many Chinese Web sites offer MP3 downloading to users. The impact caused dramatic changes in Chinese entertainment business. Chinese movie is under the influence of Hollywood and starts to target the international market. Chinese pop music has a lot of elements of American pop music. Imitating American entertainment business style, many Chinese entertainment Web sites emerged. One example is the famous Chinese martial arts movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Like many American movies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon uses the Internet as a powerful advertising tool. The movie has an elegant Web site (http://www.crouchingtiger.com), which offers a full English version description of the movie and multimedia features. The success of this movie benefits a lot from its Internet promotion. People working in Chinese movie industry have already started learning to take advantage of the Internet from their American peers.
American influence vs. Chinese culture
American influence on China through the Internet is a broad topic. Via the Internet, American values can get into every aspect of Chinese society. Will American influence eventually change Chinese culture? Some scholars suggest that China should try its best to resist American influence in order to maintain the governmentís centralized control and Chinaís traditional culture. But many Chinese reformers favor American influence arguing learning from others is the best way to improve. The growing of the Internet in China is an unimpeded trend. American influence through the Internet will definitely cause transformations in Chinese peopleís ideologies and reshape the way people think. However, China has a long history. Many Chinese cultural traditions have already rooted in society. The Internet makes Chinese people get information much faster than before and have a better view of the world. Chinese people also use the Internet to promote Chinese culture and traditions. Therefore, completely rejecting American influence through the Internet is not necessary. With the development of the Internet, China will be more modernized, but that does not mean China will lose its culture and become another America.