ABSTRACT
The effect of electronic technology, especially the internet, on governmental operation and policy making has become so significant that investigation of such effect merits more and systematic study. This chapter describes how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of People’s Republic of China has adapted to the age of the internet (particularly in terms of how it endeavors to be more open to the public via the internet), and contends that netizens’ extensive use of the internet is exerting a discernible effect on policy making by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Numerous recent events that involve the use of the internet are employed to buttress the contention of this chapter. 1. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Opening to the Public The People’s Republic of China’s foreign policy making has undergone some changes in recent years.1 In the past, China’s foreign policy making was very much centralized, concentrated in the hands of the “leading group” of powerful individuals or even in the hands of one individual. However, recently, because of China’s policy of opening to the outside world, the highly centralized paradigm in foreign policy making has changed. First, Beijing’s international contacts have been growing in roughly the past two decades. Consequently, the number of Chinese organizations or constituents with input into China’s foreign policy making is increasing. Increasing also is the knowledge of the outside world by China’s foreign policy makers. Second, a greater scope is emerging for haggling among different bureaucracies and groups representing special interests. Third, greater influence is shifting to state institutions from party institutions, or from ideologues to technocrats. Thus, in recent years, China’s foreign policy making has become more professional and institutionalized, with greater input and participation from more political, economic, and ideological groups.2
