On February 18th, a public seminar on ‘China seen from across the border’ was held at the Hokkaido University Museum. The Seminar was conducted by Professor WATANABE Kohei, a specialist on the role of the media in China who has published in Japanese on Changing China, Changing Media (Kodansha Gendai Shinsho Publishing) and China’s Internet Frontline: ‘Democratization’ and ‘Information Control’ (Sososha Publishing), and is a keen promoter of our Global COE Program.

The seminar opened with an explanation of Chinese media traditions and the current state-of-affairs in Chinese TV and Newspapers. Many examples were given of provincial-level media outlets which, buffeted between the demands of the Party and the market, had carved out their own independent line.

Furthermore, it was explained how with internet usage now expanding from the coastal youth to encompass the entire country, internet forums, blogs, and tweets have become both a source for the media and occasionally, as shown in the Wenzhou Train Collision last year, able to influence the government itself.

Notwithstanding heavy snow, around 80 people turned up to receive a talk on the state of the internet in China.