Positionality
In any academic research subject, the scholar must remain pure objectivity since scholars' studies have potential effects on real people, both positive and negative. This is not just thinking about what is possible; it has become a personal responsibility, recognizing what is right. Beyond academic analysis, I have to factorize in values, social, cultural, and human implications. At the same time, I am more motivated to explore and study social issues. It is an essential point in social science research that it is appropriate to distinguish between awareness, knowledge and thoughts and feelings. Epistemology explores the interaction between a scholar and the natural world. However, Takacs (2002) states that "the position of researchers distorts their epistemology" (p.170). From this perspective, it is impossible to obtain the study's value without the researcher's location determined, which means it is necessary to identify the correct knowledge, not my own subjective opinion, when researching a problem. In this course, my initial interactions with the posture were limited because of the habits and knowledge I learned in my country over the past ten years. The knowledge required to memorize but lack of critical thinking invaded my mind. Takacs (2002) points out that, by debates with peers, students will reveal how their stance is prejudicing the epistemological statements they make.
Nevertheless, after taking the class sessions, my understanding of privilege was fundamentally collected through reading and discussing the course. Sometimes I grapple between my imagination about China and the China that I learned and read in this class. As I grappled, I realized that my positionality informs my reactions and understanding.
One of the most critical factors influencing my Chinese media studies position is my ethnic background. I was born and raised in a well-off family in Vietnam until I came to Canada to study in an international university environment. My background in the Vietnamese urban environment has a lot to do with my standing. Vietnamese as my mother tongue and English as my second language also affects my position. Also, I only know a little French and Simplified Chinese. Although it's not enough to use at work, I can understand simple conversations. Besides, Vietnam's national language is formed from the loan of Traditional Chinese and French words. In general, my Vietnamese is a combination of many languages in which Nôm, and Latin are their foundation.
My language is also influenced by Traditional Chinese because, according to my country's history, Vietnam was ruled over 1000 years under the Northern country; that means ancient Chinese empires conquered Vietnam for a thousand years. The paradox here is that even though history forces me to memorize the war's pains that my people suffered; I still genuinely consider myself passionate about Chinese culture because it is also a part of my culture. Even though my passion for Chinese culture is undeniable, it is straightforward for me to trust Western media companies' information about China. Because information about China from within the country is very conservative and hard to find overseas, while information about China from Western media is relatively more accessible to me. Therefore, I shape my intangible beliefs in the Western press when they talk about China, although sometimes I still have different thoughts.
I also see the inconsistency in my words and thoughts. Besides, my young age is 22 years old, a full-time international student, my gender is female ,my religion is Buddhism that affects my positionality. Furthermore, some aspects of my position are privileged, such as my education and ability to study abroad, and I have a more multidimensional perspective as an Asian living and studying practice in North America. Besides, there are other vulnerabilities in my role, like my young age lacked experience, my gender and my temporary resident status in Canada. All my heritage and personal identification perspectives form my lens for learning the Chinese media and pop-culture in China.
The supremacy of the media
I feel that China has changed its tactics of directing public opinion on social media, from censorship to allowing criticism or sometimes listening to what is happening in society. China's state-controlled media's multi-functional essence places them at the center of the historical phase of socio-political change in modern China (Zhao, 2011, p.4). Following the direction of the Chinese Communist Party, the needs of society change make the media content change. The Yuck and Wow generation embrace materialism and forget about political struggles and what their predecessors used to fight for (Greenfield, 2008; Li, 2009). When the Chinese government cannot avoid the media, it supports users' voice on the Internet, but only when the right words are appropriately represented by the Communist Party's strategy (Hala, 2007; Li, 2009).
Censorship
The telephone network and the Internet are also seen as tools for the state to control their citizens. The Chinese government uses the reasons for national security and defence and cleans the Internet to prevent users from creating political content and Chinese media (Li, 2009). Information on the official Chinese state news sites is known to all be subject to stringent censorship. Individuals have discovered how to bypass Internet surveillance by utilizing alternate terms to say phrases the censors cannot comprehend (Zhao, 2008, p.63). Since communications in the media are becoming more complex, even the media administrators are designing counter-mass controls to reduce recommendation programming demands (Zhao, 2008, p.63). The party-state exploited and regulated the communication networks and even monopolized socialist rhetoric and alternatives (Zhao, 2008, p.62). China employs old-style mass mobilization, cultural re-education, and public censorship against any unnecessary retreats towards individualism (Zhao, 2008, p.61). The Chinese government's attempts to protect its hegemonic role in the media and cultural field represented an attempt to maintain, protect and extend its party-state control power against invading international and domestic private capital (Zhao, 2008, p.123).
Social Stratification
Since China was accepted to be a part of the WTO, disputes and opposition have increased among the elite and common parts of the population (Zhao, 2008, p.9). Class dominance in China is predominantly influenced by a hierarchical system containing three mutually interactive organizational dynamics: fiscal, political, and cultural in the era of neoliberal globalization (Zhao, 2008, p.76). Authoritarian regimes aim to remove internal complexities by repression; Maoists instead seek to leverage societal conflicts for social resolution (Blecher, 1997, p.220; Lin, 2006, p.13; cited in Zhao, 2011, p.3). The emergence of the wireless Internet allows the social media resources much more available, contributing to a higher degree of social engagement and promoting Chinese lower-class participation in civil society (Zhao, 2011, p.3). The Internet has also drawn more users through the development of the Internet and technologies, which has dramatically increased the size and degree of contact, cooperation among the Chinese social strata. Such expansion further heightened the social division of labour and triggered the rapid escalation in the level of social distinction. Chinese farmers are still unable to unite nationally with the CCP (Zhao, 2011, p.3). As extraordinary online agitation levels continue by Chinese people championing a broad spectrum of distributive and citizenship statements, a sort of unofficial democracy has arisen in China (Zhao, 2011, p.3). Chinese citizens shift away from mandatory, entrepreneurial practices to instituting market-oriented, formal-organizational behaviour, clarifying social class (Zhao, 2011, p.4). Newspapers representing state-owned enterprise organs represent party leaderships in urban and rural areas, respectively (Zhao, 2008, p.81).
The more crowded the city is, the more significant the social stratification is. As a born and raised person in a well-off family in one of the most crowded cities in Asia, I clearly witnessed social class impacts on the social distinction. Hence, I adopt a type of social interaction that decreases the probability of community and state interaction by stressing state centralism (Yu, 2011). When doing research, it is necessary to expand the research subjects that cannot be directed to the government only because the research subject must also bring human factors and implications to the society.
Reintegration into the world
In a modern and democratic way, the Internet is a tool that can be used to promote economic stability and, thus, revolutionize how information flows, which is part of the plan to make it more conducive to the legitimacy of the China Party (Li, 2009).
There are two main ways illustrated by various policy initiatives to articulate China's reintegration into the Chinese nationalist and culturalist framework and the liberal democratization framework (Zhao, 2008, p.138). The reintegration of foreign capital into the Chinese economy has necessitated different media sector control (Zhao, 2008, p.26). The growth of state censorship and repression of information is the product of both political, ideological, socioeconomic, and cultural struggles that have escalated in the 1990s that renders the reintegration phase even more complicated (Zhao, 2008, p.49).
This moral state's willingness to eliminate the society-state difference primarily represents a moral unity within its residents to represent the common good (Zhao, 2011, p.2). The Cultural Revolution prevents the revival of capitalism in China (Zhao, 2011, p.3). The Chinese state change and opening-up can be defined as a phase of reforming its revolutionary status and pushing forward market-oriented economic reforms (Zhao, 2011, p.3). China is struggling to adjust to the world economy and the capitalist framework while at the same time facing rising social costs induced by neoliberal globalization (Zhao, 2008, p.92).
My positionality in China's reintegration into the world is a bit complicated because my country had been conquered by ancient China for a thousand years, and the two countries still have constant conflicts from time to time. However, I find that if I were to put my war’s pain in the way of researching China, it would narrow my vision to have a deeper understanding of the country. Especially in the context that Vietnam is on track to regain its global powerhouse position like China, the two countries should have an open-mindedness to learn from each other and to have more subjective research.
Comparative Analysis
Yuezhi Zhao (2009) proposes the five 'Rs' to study Chinese media to study China with a more multidimensional perspective (cited in Yu, 2011). As China and Canada are two very different nations, each nation's features have contributed to various countries' circumstances. The various societies and environments in the world drive the complex conditions in one's country that citizens deal with differently. The varied circumstances each nation faces in its communities contribute to diverse situations within the country. Therefore, I am aware that it is difficult to determine which nation is more substantial from the government or differentiates its society or background. Then I am confident that it is difficult to determine which nation is greater than the other from the heritage, design, or tradition of the government or its culture and background. Both regimes are hesitant to grapple with sensitive topics such as abortion, as no compromise or remedies would operate these problems. Canada is a Western country that had formed a friendly relationship with China from early years.
Nevertheless, now, the strained Canadian Chinese relationship is escalating. Spavor and Michael Kovrig have been recently imprisoned by Chinese officials, held in jail for two years ("The Path Forward For Canada-China Relations," 2020). They are accused of adversely affecting China's cybersecurity; however, the arrest has been generally viewed as Chinese retaliation against Canada. Canadian Prime Minister J. Trudeau has expressed deep concern over the news that China suspects two Canadian citizens previously arrested in China for spying and stealing national secrets ("The Path Forward For Canada-China Relations," 2020). China's disregard of global political dynamics would have immediate consequences for Canada since Canada is a medium-sized democracy (Ong, 2020). According to Canada-China ties' current politics, there are many contradictory philosophies and principles (Ong, 2020).
China perceived Meng's detention in Vancouver to expand America's authority solely toward proud Chinese pride (Ong, 2020). China sees Canada as a surrogate of the U.S. intentions to curb China's rising (Ong, 2020). China has been working under this so-called ideology of "hide your capacities and bide your time" since Deng Xiaoping held itself out of the center of attention (Ong, 2020).
References
Hala, M. (2007). From ‘‘big character posters’’ to blogs: Facets of independent self-expression in China. Retrieved April 11, 2008, from http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-10-25-hala-en. html.
Greenfield, S. (2008, June). Creating creative brains. Paper presented at CCI-Conference ‘‘Creating Value: Between Commerce and Commons’’. Brisbane, Australia.
Li, H. S. (2009). The turn to the self: From “Big Character Posters” to YouTube videos. Chinese Journal of Communication, 2(1), 50–60.
Ong, L. (2020). Navigating Canada-China Relations in a Turbulent Era - Public Policy Forum. Public Policy Forum. Retrieved March 1, 2021, from https://ppforum.ca/publications/navigating-canada-china-relations/.
Takas, D. (2002). Positionality, Epistemology, and Social Justice in the Classroom. Social Justice, 29(4), 168–181
The Path Forward For Canada-China Relations. USNews. (2020). Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2020-12-30/diplomats-weigh-in-on-the-path-forward-for-canada-china-relations.
Yu, H. (2011). Doing Chinese media studies: A reflection on the field’s history and methodology. Media International Australia, (138), 66–79.
Zhao, Y. (2011). Chinese media, contentious society. In J. Curran (Ed.), Mass Media and Society (5th ed.). New York: Bloomsbury.
Zhao, Y. (2008). Dancing with Wolves? Transnational Capital, Nationalism, and the Terms of Global Reintegration. In Communication in China: Political economy power and conflict (pp. 137–194). Toronto, Canada: Rowman & Littlefield.
Zhao, Y. (2008). Reconfiguring Party-State Power Market Reforms, Communication, and Control in the Digital Age. In Communication in China: Political economy power and conflict (pp. 19–74). Toronto, Canada: Rowman & Littlefield.
Zhao, Y. (2008). Securing the “Commanding Heights” Class, Power, and the Transformation of the Party-State’s Media and Culture Sector. In Communication in China: Political economy power and conflict (pp. 75–136). Toronto, Canada: Rowman & Littlefield.
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