The Internet and China’s Foreign Policy Decision-making

As a milestone of media convergence, the Internet is altering every aspect of politics, economy, society, and interaction among human beings. Moreover, foreign policy decision-making (FPDM), a traditional arena of elite politics in China, is also slowly becoming more and more influenced by the Internet in a networked world. The increased diversity, velocity and free flow of foreign policy information, has raised public attention to foreign policy issues. This, combined with the widespread public discussion facilitated by the Internet, changes the context of, and exerts pressure on, the process of Chinese FPDM. The aim of researching this new phenomenon is to figure out the relationship between the Internet and Chinese FPDM in theory, and to enlighten the role of the Internet in Chinese politics.