ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to explore the political cost of information control in China. Information control involves high political costs of different types. The Chinese government controls information flow in order to maintain its dominance over society, but information control in turn leads to poor performance in governance. It seems that the government is “rationally” maximizing the benefit derived from Internet development while minimizing its cost. Nevertheless, in reality, it is difficult to define what the benefits are and what the costs are. In many cases, the boundary between the two is more often than not blurred. To look at the political cost of information control will lead one to rethink the sustainability of information control. At a certain point, the cost of information control might become greater than the benefit. If this is the case, the government, as a rational actor, will have to allow freer flow of information, and liberalize information control.
