In a public lecture on November 21 hosted by CMDS, Peking University Professor Hu Yong explored the evolution of public opinion in modern China. "The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was skilled at creating government information management systems before the internet," said Hu. "The question now is how will they respond in the internet age."
Taking a look at the development of yulun ("public opinion") in China, Hu emphasized that it is "a concept of political function rather than a collection of individual opinions." Using a definition from the German sociologist Jürgen Habermas, Hu studies yulun as an "enlightened outcome of common and public reflection on foundations of social order."
Hu argued that Chinese public opinion in the late Qing dynasty fit Habermas' definition and "symbolized people's morale" in the country. During the Chinese civil war and the emergence of the CCP, public opinion became a political propaganda tool and served as an ideological weapon. Mao Zedong, the founding father of today's People's Republic of China, stressed the "uniformity of public opinion," an ideal in conflict with Western conceptions of the diversity of public opinion. Mao's stance still prevails in the CPP with recent leaders Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao speaking of the "guidance" and "channeling" of public opinion towards a correct viewpoint. "Chinese-style public opinion does not emerge from civil society, but from government-run media," said Hu.
Read the full article on the Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS) website here.