A Professor Guo Liang, of Beijing's Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, recently published results from his in-depth, multi-year study of internet use in China and its impact on Chinese society.
When it came to the internet and politics, Prof Guo found respondents had very strong expectations that the internet would effect positive change in politics in China - more than 60% agreed or "strongly agreed" that high-level officials would "better understand the common people's views through the internet".
‘Dilemma in China’
This comes despite US lawmakers last month accused Microsoft, Yahoo, Cisco Systems and Google of giving into pressure from Beijing and censoring websites in violation of American principles of free speech.Tom Lantos, Democratic head of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, spoke out last month, saying there had been "a string of disturbing incidents" in which US-based companies had "caved in to Beijing for the sake of profits".
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders also accused Yahoo of providing China with information that helped identify and convict two internet writers.
Li Zhi and Writer Shi Tao, were both jailed for more than eight years, after posting internet comments that criticised official corruption and human rights abuses.
