Dualism of communications in China

Abstract

This article examines the dualistic nature of communications in China. It identifies three levels of communication dualism: rural-urban, core-peripheral and advanced-rudimentary. The first concerns socioeconomic disparity, the second arises from locational imbalance and the third is a technological gap. The study shows that the first two kinds of disparities exhibit a conflictual relationship in which the traditional and modern sectors disrupt each other, but the technological disparity is of a complementary nature since the two sectors coexist peacefully without draining each other's resources. Complementary dualism can be helpful to development, but the Chinese government seems to be less active in narrowing down the rural-urban and core-peripheral disparities than in trying to close the technological gap. The socioeconomic and geographical gaps will obstruct the flow of information, forming a serious barrier to the transformation of China into an information society. More conscious effort to substantially increase investment in communications is needed to ameliorate the rural-urban and core-peripheral gaps.