| Abstract |
China's aggressive move from an economic system driven by central planning to one that is increasingly sensitive to market forces is matched only by its even more ambitious program of technological development. One consequence of such commercialization and subsequent decentralization of power has been the erosion of Communist Party's central role in the daily lives of those experiencing more and more economic freedom. However, the Government has sought to reassert its relevancy through a more integrated social, political and technological management strategy without disrupting overall economic growth and propaganda and control modalities. New media technologies such as the Internet, telecommunications, broadband, digital television and satellite communications provide the potential to boost the Chinese economy by offering fresh avenues for government and business to access China's fast-growing consumer-oriented population while maintaining control over information at its point of dissemination. A strategy to converge broadband and digital television with more established media technologies provides the most potential to bridge the Party-citizen divide. Riding on the backbone of China's developing broadband network, the diffusion of digital television offers new ways to increase economic growth, reinforce political control and meet citizen/consumer needs. Yet, the success of digital television diffusion in China faces a number of issues and challenges before it can deliver on its potential to pave the way for new levels of technological, economic, political, and consumer interactivity.
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