via: 世界眼中的我们 - 网络会是最后一根稻草吗？
"we in the eyes of the world" is a blog kept by a chinese and dedicated to translating english news reports, mostly new york times articles about china, into chinese language. you could consider Santiago31 (the name of the blogger) as another ESWN who works in the reverse direction.
Santiago31 translated Nicholas Kristof's recent piece of "China vs. the Net", with the following side notes (loose translations followed):
网络的作用确实很大，它会成为推动中国民主进程的重要因素，这点我承认。然而我要质疑的是：网络会成为实现中国民主的基础吗？我的答案是未必。因为民主起于网络之前。也就是说，构成民主的基础（比如社会结构的、经济模式的、民族文化的等等）不是网络，而是别的东西。现在中国社会已经具有那些东西吗？肯定还没有。
the power of the net is truely great, i agree that it will become an important factor to advance china's democratization process. however, i doubt that the net could become the basis for china's democracy. i don't think so. democracy is something before the net, which is to say, it's not the net that composes the basis (such as social structure, economic models, national culture, etc.) for democracy, it's something else. does chinese society already possess those things? definitely not yet.
i can't agree more with what Santiago31 said above. Kristof greatly exaggerated the impact of the net in balancing powers in china and failed to recognize the core issue of china's democratization - the change of people's mentality.
unlike what Kristof believed, the internet greatly reduced the system risks by delivering the social unrest messages from every corner of the country quicker and by distributing the government (party, in Kristof language) policies to the most remote area of the country. for one thing, diversifications are decreased with the help of the internet, for another, hierarchies are reduced since the net makes the dialogues and exchanges between different levels possible and easier.
in one word, it's people, especially how they think, that makes things change and different. internet is a tool that could do good or do evil. it's pretty shallow to always regard internet as something positive in advancing china's democracy.
related link: What prevent guys like Nicholas Kristof from understanding China correctly?