Burgeoning Cyberspace Democracy in China

As Chinese legislators debate issues of concern to the people in Beijing, tens of thousands of cyberspace enthusiasts are voicing their own comments and opinions on a wider range of matters.

Economic structural reform, west China development program, science and technology, the fight against deflation, and water diversion from the Yangtze River to north China are some of the issues being debated by legislators attending the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC), in session since Monday.

In the virtual world, however, people are debating on issues that are closer to their lives such as reform of the household registration system, the need to crack down harder on corruption, lower the investment threshold for small businesses, and ways to promote market competition.

Surveys conducted by some dotcom companies have shown that the hottest topics in cyberspace include "economic development", " improving people's standard of living", "anti-corruption" and " China's anticipated accession to the World Trade Organization".

Meanwhile, more Chinese are turning to the Internet for timely information on matters of their concern.

Over half of those surveyed on-line said the web-based media are their sources of latest information on the NPC session and one-third from television reports, according to an on-line survey by www.people.com.

Over 12.8 million hits were recorded by a website, xinhuanet. com, Monday when it was reporting live the opening meeting of the NPC session.

Dotcom companies like xinhuanet.com, 21dn.com, two of the largest Web-based media outfits, have arranged interactive exchanges between Qu Geping, pioneer of China's environmental protection cause, and some other legislators with the general public on the Internet.

A website, www.sohu.com, carried the cover of a proposal that calls for building railways in west China with money from share issues, with signatures from those who initiated the proposal, including those by Yang Xingkai, a member of China's most influential advisory body -- the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference -- and some other members.

Proposals like that may be submitted to China's policy makers, including government departments or the country's leadership, for reference.

That may explain why legislators like Chong Zhenglong are beginning to envy the cyberspace enthusiasts to varying degrees: they are free to make their views seen on the Internet without time limits, while in real life the legislators are subject to procedures, and have to wait for their turns to speak up.

Chong, a deputy to the NPC, said that someday important conferences might be convened on the Internet for its convenience, interactivity, and most important of all: freedom and equal opportunity to all the people who like to express their opinions at any time and place convenient to them.

That would have been a crazy idea just several years ago, since subscription to Internet services on a large scale became available only three years ago, said Chong.

Subscribers to Internet services total 30 million in number in China today, compared with a mere 1.1 million by mid-1998, according to official Internet information center CNNIC.

In the runup to the national session, local deputies to regional legislatures in Beijing, Shanghai, Jinan and Xiamen have already debated issues with the public via the Internet.

Over 5,600 people in Shanghai raised nearly 400 "motions" on various issues via the Internet for local legislators and advisors, in a way as if they were a group of legislators and advisors in the real world.

Liu Xiayang, a research fellow with the Public Opinion Institute of the People's College of China, said the interactivity of the Internet is beginning to draw closer the general public, legislators and advisers at various levels, and changing the way people discuss State affairs, and the way of supervision by public opinion.






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