ABSTRACT
Chinese Internet policy represents a detailed interpretation of the thoughts of China's Surfer-in-Chief. The Internet has been encouraged as an information technology and hailed as a business model for new media, but no real preferential treatment is extended. The Chinese language is rich with metaphorical allusions to describe all kinds of political scenarios. However, perhaps the best allusion to describe the Internet in China is the English phase: 'an irresistible force confronts an immovable object'. The Chinese Journalist Code sets out the role of the print media states that: The Chinese media is one of the important parts in the socialist society under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. While Chinese domestic on-line media like Sina.com and Netease.com appear not to have delivered any serious political challenge, the true impact of the web could be its capacity to disseminate alternative views and diverse opinions on formerly taboo subjects.
