Revision with unchanged content. Why has China moved so rapidly in its
ICT sector? Who is behind the scene to break the monopoly of China
Telecom and develop the ICT infrastructure? What are the political
struggles involved in the buildup of the ICT sector in China? These are
important issues addressed in this book. It is amazing that China has
reached 162 million netizens, second only to the United States (211
million) by June 2007. This intrigued us to uncover the political
struggles behind the breakup of China Telecom and the diffusion of the
Internet to give a systematic explanation to the readers. The book
concentrates on the role of leaders in order to burrow the process in
which IT elites can devise, within limits, strategies to hasten trends
in ICT diffusion, thus having a potential impact on political changes in
China. In sum, this book is helpful for those who are interested in
Chinese politics, state-society relationship, ICT diffusion, the middle
class and leadership in China.