Wither the Jasmine: China's Two-Phase Operation for Cyber Control-in-Depth

Abstract

China's Jasmine Revolution, an online movement that emerged from the embers of revolutions sweeping the Middle East, experienced an enthusiastic birth but ultimately suffered a premature and rather mundane death. A passive shrug of the shoulders, and the embryonic movement withered and died on the vine. Some would argue that the Jasmine Revolution never took the breath of life -- that it was merely a manifestation of the Chinese government's overreaction to the possibility of social unrest and the Western media's exuberance to cover it. The timing was wrong: China is not the Middle East, economic conditions were not conducive to a revolution, and it was not a serious movement. These and a host of other reasons explain the Jasmine Revolution's untimely demise. Whether the result of one or a combination of these factors, the downfall of the nascent movement illuminates the mechanisms behind Beijing's ability to provide comprehensive cyber control-in-depth through a two-phased system consisting of seven components: external monitoring, internal monitoring, blocking, attacks, intimidation, campaigning, and self-censorship.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2012
Accession Number
ADA595565

Entities

People

  • Scott J. Henderson

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Cyber

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Defense
  • Electronic Mail
  • Governments
  • Information Operations
  • Internet
  • Media
  • Middle East
  • Military Science
  • Mobile Phones
  • Political Movements
  • Political Systems
  • Revolutions
  • Social Media
  • Social Networking Services
  • Students
  • Text Messaging
  • Websites

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Marine Mammal Biology
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.

Technology Areas

  • Cyber