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16 Frontiers L. China 35 (2021)
Digital Inclusion for Persons with Disabilities in China under COVID-19: How Far Has China Come?

handle is hein.journals/frolch16 and id is 41 raw text is: FRONTIERS OF LAW IN CHINA VOL. 16 MARCH 2021 NO. 1 DOI 10.3868/s050-010-021-0003-6 FOCUS PROTECTION OF VULNERABLE GROUPS DURING COVID-19 DIGITAL INCLUSION FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN CHINA UNDER COVID-19: HoW FAR HAS CHINA COME? HE Biao*, Rune Halvorsen** Abstract This article reviews social regulatory and redistributive policies in China that aim at fostering digital inclusion of persons with disabilities. We examine the emerging Chinese policies and how China has responded to the impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on digital inclusion in terms of redistribution, market regulation, involvement of persons with disabilities and disabled people's organizations (DPOs), and awareness-raising campaigns. The policy review demonstrates that the Chinese policy framework contains a few redistributive initiatives, for example, cash transfer programs, and free distribution of information and communications technology (ICT). These have the potential to increase the uptake of ICT among persons with disabilities. The Chinese policy framework also includes provisions to ensure consultation with individual persons with disabilities and DPOs in the deliberation and implementation of ICT accessibility policies. While China has initiated awareness-raising campaigns among market actors about the importance of digital inclusion, so far, the Chinese government has adopted little legal regulation of the market to foster accessibility to ICT. The article thus argues that some of the limitations may be due to the way state-market relations have developed since the economy opened up in 1978. Apart from the growing benefits of several cash transfer programs, we have not seen major changes or adjustments to the current policy framework during the efforts to mitigate the impact of * (17) M.A. in International Social Welfare and Health Policy, Faculty of Social Sciences, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway; Research Assistant, Department of Social Work, Child Welfare and Social Policy, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo 0130, Norway. Contact: biaohe@oslomet.no ** Rune Halvorsen, Ph.D. in Sociology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway; Professor, Department of Social Work, Child Welfare and Social Policy, and Co-director of CEDIC- Center for the Study of Digitalization of Public Services and Citizenship, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo 0130, Norway. Contact: rune.halvorsen@oslomet.no The authors acknowledge the receipt of funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under grant agreement CHN-19/004, and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 870698. The authors would like to thank Professor ZHANG Wanhong, Wuhan University, DING Peng, East-Lake Institute for Social Advancement, and the anonymous reviewers for their comments to earlier versions of this article. The opinions published in this article reflect only the authors' views.

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