Few doubt that China wants to be a major economic and military
power on the world stage. To achieve this ambitious goal, however,
the PRC leadership knows that China must first become an advanced
information-based society. But does China have what it takes to get
there? Are its leaders prepared to make the tough choices required
to secure China's cyber future? Or is there a fundamental
mismatch between China's cyber ambitions and the policies
pursued by the CCP until now?
This book offers the first comprehensive analysis of China's
information society. It explores the key practical challenges
facing Chinese politicians as they try to marry the development of
modern information and communications technology with old ways of
governing their people and conducting international relations.
Fundamental realities of the information age, not least its
globalizing character, are forcing the pace of technological change
in China and are not fully compatible with the old PRC ethics of
stability, national industrial strength and sovereignty. What
happens to China in future decades will depend on the ethical
choices its leaders are willing to make today. The stakes are high.
But if China's ruling party does not adapt more aggressively
to the defining realities of power and social organization in the
information age, the 'China dream' looks unlikely to
become a reality.
