Voices of online masses can make China heard worldwide
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The Internet is a breeding place for all kinds of online activism, exercised by a hodgepodge of activists, including not only genuine human rights activists, but also terrorists, extremists, neo-Nazis, WikiLeaks and many others. They all claim to be fighting for freedom. However, if Chinese authorities decide to shut down a certain group's websites, it will be immediately portrayed by the West as suppressing Internet freedom.
In addition, people often disagree on who are the champions of freedom and who are not, simply because the reality is much more complicated. For example, China claims that Uigur activist Rebiya Kadeer is the leader of Xinjiang Muslim extremists, whereas in the West she is portrayed as a freedom fighter. But if she were against the US, she would have been labeled as a terrorist.
Chinese government spokespeople are always criticizing the Western media for not providing accurate accounts of what they claim really happened during the Tibet and Xinjiang riots. When a nation's voice is not loud enough in the Internet, the "truth" will be dominated by those who have louder voice online.
Hillary Clinton has decided to choose Internet as her weapon. China's future warfare of words with the US is likely to become increasingly unpredictable as network technologies continue to advance.
The Internet should be used in a more effective way in times of emergency in China. With open access to the Internet, Chinese online citizens could provide instant and convincing firsthand stories to the world through the dialogue of social media, which often elicit more trust than government voices.
China has 450 million Internet users, including 75 million microblog users. These grass-roots bloggers and netizens constitute a colossal army of spokespeople that have the potential to enhance China's voice in the world with one-on-one dialogue and trustworthy blogs.
The Chinese government should utilize the new opportunity that social media presents to formulate proactive public diplomacy policies and to make Chinese voices heard loudly, correctly and completely.
The author is a professor of Tsinghua University whose most recent book is Soft Power and China Dream, his microblog: t.sina.com. cn/MyNewsToday, his email: xiguang@ tsinghua.edu.cn
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