Censorship and Evolving Media Policy in China

This paper discusses several facets of Chinese media, both historic and modern. It analyzes the effect China’s political history has had on modern media and juxtaposes the modernity of China’s business industry and its acceptance of free enterprise with its reproach of free speech. It also describes the tenuous relationships between mainland China and the independent regions of Hong Kong and Taiwan, which each have modern, free media policies. Finally, it discusses China’s treatment of foreign media, particularly dur-ing the 2008 Summer Olympics, and how China has relaxed some of its stringent policies for the purpose of increased globalization. I. Background The People’s Republic of China is one of the largest and most populous countries on earth, and its political and economic power is increasing rapidly. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, there are more than 2,000 newspapers, 8,000 magazines, 374 television stations and 150 million Internet users in China, and all of these media outlets and media consumers are subject to government gatekeeping and censorship. From a foreign perspective, the juxtaposition of China’s remarkable technological advancement, business savvy and cultural influence to its continued control of the media is astonishing and, in many ways, unique to China. Somehow, despite the fact that China is quickly becoming a new world leader that rivals the United States, the government has been able to maintain old-world communistic policies toward its media but modern capitalistic policies toward the rest of its industries