The afternoon session, “Internet Development in China,” began with remarks from Dean Orville Schell from UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.
“Some of us know a lot about China,” he started, “some of us know a lot about the Internet. We’re trying to converge these tracks.”
He spoke about the contradiction in China, how the economic changes in the country have been extraordinary, but that politics have been slow to conform. What role will the Internet play in how these spheres interact – and how the rest of the world interacts with China.
Any process of reform has two important components:
1. How the old gets torn down
2. How the new gets built
So everyone is waiting to see how China handles this.
“In some profound way, China is trying to reinvent itself,” he said. The last time this happened was in 1911 with the fall of the Qing dynasty. Lots of discussion during that period about what the new China would look like. It was a chaotic period that never really settled until the emergence of the Communist Party and the defeat of Japan’s occupation. China again finds itself at that moment. What does it mean to be Chinese? What foundation will the country be built upon? The Internet will play a huge role in this latest reinvention, but will the Internet change China, or the reverse. Will China change the Internet?
