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Citizen participation in online political debate and the Internet's effect on Chinese society have become an important research field. However, few studies so far have examined the use of interactive functions by Chinese newspaper websites to facilitate online discussion of civil issues, or the quality of public debate on the websites of Chinese online newspapers. Using the concept of the public sphere as its theoretical framework, this article aims to advance this line of inquiry through content analysis of the Guangzhou Daily website—Dayoo.com—to explore both the potential and the limits of the Internet in fostering civic engagement. Key variables measured include the quantity of posts and participants, topicality, nature of the argument (i.e. justification, complexity and civility), and responsiveness and homogeneity of contributions. Findings suggest that a political public sphere in Chinese cyberspace is emerging at the incipient stage, where the quality of discourse has reached a certain level but is not yet mature in terms of the complexity of dialogue and the exposure to disagreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the authors examine the subtle forms of political expression, including criticism of the government and political satire, found in the works of popular Chinese bloggers. The research discovers that the practice of blogging has provided citizens and activists in the People's Republic of China with a method of criticizing the government without experiencing brutal repression. The article also examines the ways bloggers are able to avoid the government censoring their political attitudes.