Architecture of China’s Cyber Sovereignty Concept (Based on the Reports World Internet Conference “Sovereignty in Cyberspace: Theory and Practice”

Abstract

Modern China shares the position that national security is impossible without network security. The state builds cyber diplomacy based on the traditional dominants of its foreign policy — inviolability of borders, non-interference, respect for sovereignty. Naturally expanding into the digital space, the last of them has acquired a new form of cyber-sovereignty, become an integral part of the Chinese discursive force and the cornerstone of the PRC’s approach to global Internet governance. Beijing, not satisfied with the current unfair digital world order and concerned about the need to ensure constant control over internal networks for the regime security, advocates institutional reform of the existing system of global cyberspace governance. Over the past two decades, the state has turned from a recipient into a creator and propagandist of cyber norms. The cases of Chinese regulatory entrepreneurship attract an increasing number of supporters, primarily among developing countries. Several major initiatives, including the World Internet Conference, the Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace, the Digital Silk Road, have become the personification of China’s competitive strategy in this direction. All of them aim to convey to an international audience a concrete message about China’s intention to adhere to cyber sovereignty in all foreign policy affairs and a call to formalize this principle as a confirmation of the state’s right to manage the Internet at their discretion. Based on primary sources, the article attempts to trace the origins of the PRC’s cyber sovereignty concept, analyze its evolution, institutional design, goal setting, content, limitations, and using the construction of an object-oriented architecture to present it as a three levels system, visualized for a better understanding of the links between levels. Acknowledgements: The author expresses gratitude to her supervisor, Vasily B. Kashin, Ph.D. (Political Sciences), Director of the Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies (CCEIS) at the HSE University, for his assistance.