China must embrace the global internet if it wants to reclaim its narrative
- With a lack of Chinese voices to balance the narrative, anti-China rhetoric has gradually permeated Western-dominated digital spaces
- China must venture out of its own digital ecosystem and into the global online sphere to offer a fresh perspective
In the early 1960s, Canadian media theorist Marshal McLuhan coined the term “global village” to describe how advances in communications technology bring people around the world closer together, enabling them to interact with each other more easily and experience the same events in real-time.
Six decades later, the internet has helped to realise this vision to a degree that would have surprised even McLuhan. But today’s digital global village is not always a harmonious one.
First, Chinese organisations such as think tanks, universities, and social organisations can upgrade their international online presence and be more proactive in engaging foreign audiences. At present, even major institutions are often absent from key global platforms.
For example, a 2021 study of 40 leading Chinese think tanks found that 65 per cent do not have an account on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, or LinkedIn, while only 7 per cent used all five of these channels.
The second way that China can play a more active role in the digital global village is to empower individuals from all walks of life to share their stories and interact with global audiences via social media networks.
Influencers like Dianxi Xiaoge present a slice of life far removed from the urban industrial China that foreign audiences are usually exposed to, helping to convey the diversity of the country and confound narratives that reduce the lives of 1.4 billion people to tropes or political issues. As the mainland reopens, there is now also a chance to encourage foreign influencers, experts, and young people to visit and share direct experiences of China with audiences back home.
Seoul is working with local IT companies to develop spaces where virtual visitors can experience K-pop culture and last year, Barbados became the first country to announce it will open an embassy in the metaverse. China should be involved in these emerging worlds and the formation of the international conventions needed to guide their healthy development.
Rather than physical obstacles, in today’s world, what separates people are often cognitive barriers and prejudice towards different civilisations. Its reputation may be tarnished, but the internet still holds immense potential as a stage for dialogue, exchange and learning between different countries.
China’s future development and globalisation are closely linked to its participation in the evolving online sphere. Our civilisation has a long tradition of inclusiveness and openness, something that has often coincided with periods of great strength such as during the Tang and Song dynasties. As we enter a new era of national flourishing, China would do well to draw on these traditions and play an active role in building a more open and inclusive global village.
Wang Huiyao is the founder of the Centre for China and Globalisation, a Beijing-based non-governmental think tank