Between Openness and Control: Balancing Informatization and Control (Late 1990s)

Between Openness and Control: Balancing Informatization and Control (Late 1990s)

In the late 1990s, China's leadership faced the contradictory challenge of simultaneously opening up and controlling information. Information is both a driving force for development and a potential threat to national security. Therefore, information management was linked to security and military affairs, and later developed into a comprehensive information control regime. The information state was built on the tension between freedom and control.