Impacts of SINA Weibo’s Information Power on the P.R.C.’s Authority: A Case Study of Jasmine Revolution in China

• Main Authors: Lin, Hsiao-Ju, 林筱茹
• Other Authors: Hwang, Ji- Jen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/tnnar7

碩士 === 國防大學 === 戰略研究所 === 102 === The study of Power can be traced back to Ancient Greek. Since then, the concept of power has been transferred from autocratic to democratic. In the 16th century, an international system was already developed, so that political strategists have extended their concern into the international arena. Since 19th century, there has experienced and witnessed a rapid growth of computer science and Information Technology (IT). As a result, revolutionary changes happened in various areas, such as economy, society, and culture and so on. The most influential one of all is that the internet has become a resource of power. Since the cost of E-communication has become so cheap that everyone can easily access it, power actors have expanded from states to all possible non-state actors. In so doing, internet has actually broken up the monopoly of state’s power, not only extending power domains but also creating so many power actors including individuals. In cyberspace, state actors grasp internet resources in their pursuit of information power; however, the era of information monopoly is gone, individual netizens’ speech freedom can freely express their feelings and political opinions. After attracting sympathetic audience, they are on the way of forming information power and exercising force of public opinion. If the government could not cope individual cases well, it can trigger off reactions like demonstrations, protests, blockades, destructions, and so on. All these events can eventually lead to mass rally. The influence of information power has taken place from the virtual cyberspace to physical society. The behavior pattern provides a theoretical basis for the research of strategic studies. This thesis sets its arguments upon the concept of power and its evolution to structure the idea of Information Power. In the research, on the one hand, how information power offers a strategic value and being useful for PRC’s government was explored; on the other hand, how Hu Jintao’s regime has to tackle the challenges caused by the information power was also examined. In conclusion, this paper provides an understanding of the following phenomenon: 1. How Hu’s regime faces the combination of information power and mass rally, and deploys internet censorship to decrease the civil information power so as to strengthen the stability of society and authority; 2. How the case of “SINA Weibo” and “Jasmine Revolution” further fully explains that information power makes struggle phenomenon in China.