Technical Governance in Contemporary China: Presenting the “Reconsideration Approach”

Models of technical governance and their applications are influenced by the cultural, political, and social contexts of regions and countries. National responses to COVID-19 have highlighted differences between conceptions and applications of these models. Technical governance has played a unique role in the modernization of China. As such, technical governance can be considered a distinctive field of study in contemporary China and part of the philosophy of technology. This chapter presents a theory of technical governance responsive to challenges created by new and emerging technologies, which we call the “Reconsideration Approach.” According to this approach, the governance of people in technical governance is as important as the governance of technology: Effective technical governance is a product of governing both people and technology; viewing technological governance as purely a technical matter is a grave mistake. Human factors must be considered when developing and applying policies governing technology, among which cultural and national contexts are paramount. 摘要：技术治理模式及其运用受到国家和地区文化、政治和社会背景的影响。各国应对新冠疫情的技术治理模式在观念及应用上存在差异。技术治理在中国的现代化进程中发挥了独特作用，是研究当代中国和技术哲学的一个独特领域。本章提出一种应对新兴技术挑战的技术治理理论，我们称之为“审度路径”。根据这一路径，人的因素和技术的因素在技术治理中同等重要，有效的技术治理是人与技术的共同产物，因而将技术治理视为纯粹的技术问题是一个严重错误。在制定和运用技术治理的政策时，必须同时考虑人的因素，其中，文化和国家语境至关重要。