Framing the Boundary of Sino-Japanese Conflicts in China’s Communication Sphere: a Content Analysis of the News Coverage of Japan and Sino-Japanese Controversies by the People’s Daily between 2001 and 2015 | SpringerLink
December 2018 , Volume 23, Issue 4, pp 603–618 | Cite as
This study provides a longitudinal analysis of the news coverage on Japan and Sino-Japanese relations between 2001 and 2015 by China’s most influential official media, the People’s Daily, by drawing upon framing theory. The results of the content analysis demonstrated that most of the time the People’s Daily did not disseminate anti-Japanese content as around 70% of the article frames were not related to conflict between China and Japan. Furthermore, the People’s Daily framed the boundary of Sino-Japanese conflicts within the political arena while portraying other fields of bilateral relations as benign and cooperative. In addition to framing Sino-Japanese conflicts as politically oriented rather than full-scale, more importantly, the People’s Daily narrowed down the bilateral conflicts to an either-or choice between historical disagreements or controversies over contemporary interests, rather than a combination of these situations. This reduction suggested that the People’s Daily, as the dominant actor of framing Japan in China’s political communication space, attempted to de-radicalize the antagonistic sentiments towards Japan and stabilize Sino-Japanese relations.
Sino-Japanese relations The Chinese media The People’s Daily Diaoyu/Senkaku islands dispute The Yasukuni Shrine controversy
Downs, Erica Strecker, and Phillip C. Saunders. 1999. Legitimacy and the limits of nationalism: China and the Diaoyu Islands. International Security 23 (3): 114–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollihan, Thomas, ed. 2014. The dispute over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands: How media narratives shape public opinion and challenge the global order. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Reilly, James. 2014. A wave to worry about? Public opinion, foreign policy and China's anti-Japan protests. Journal of Contemporary China 23 (86): 197–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
The Genron NPO. 2016. The 12th Japan-China joint opinion poll analysis report on the comparative data. Retrieved from http://www.genron-npo.net/pdf/2016forum_en.pdf.
Lye, Liang Fook, and Wu Dan. 2013. Growing anti-Japanese nationalistic sentiments in China. East Asian Policy 5 (4): 18–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reilly, James. 2011. Strong society, smart state: The rise of public opinion in China's Japan policy. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Stockmann, Daniela. 2013. Media commercialization and authoritarian rule in China. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cairns, Christopher, and Allen Carlson. 2016. Real-world islands in a social media sea: Nationalism and censorship on Weibo during the 2012 Diaoyu/Senkaku crisis. The China Quarterly 225: 23–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denemark, David, and Andrew Chubb. 2016. Citizen attitudes towards China's maritime territorial disputes: Traditional media and internet usage as distinctive conduits of political views in China. Information, Communication & Society 19 (1): 59–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyun, Ki Deuk, Jinhee Kim, and Shaojing Sun. 2014. News use, nationalism, and internet use motivations as predictors of anti-Japanese political actions in China. Asian Journal of Communication 24 (6): 589–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vreese, De, and H. Claes. 2005. News framing: Theory and typology. Information Design Journal & Document Design 13 (1): 51–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Entman, Robert M. 2004. Projections of power: Framing news, public opinion, and US foreign policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Bashir, Manaf. 2012. Framing an online social movement: How do the leadership and participants of the Egyptian 6th of April youth movement frame their Facebook activism? International Review of Information Ethics 18: 71–83.Google Scholar
Meraz, Sharon, and Zizi Papacharissi. 2013. Networked gatekeeping and networked framing on# Egypt. The International Journal of Press/Politics 18 (2): 138–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shirk, Suzan. 2010. Changing media, changing China. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Zhang, Cui and Charles William Meadows III. 2012. International coverage, foreign policy, and national image: Exploring the complexities of media coverage, public opinion, and presidential agenda. International Journal of Communication 6: 76–95.Google Scholar
Scotton, James F., and William A. Hachten, eds. 2010. New media for a new China. Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Chen, Wenhong, and Stephen D. Reese, eds. 2015. Networked China: Global dynamics of digital media and civic engagement: New agendas in communication. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Chen, Michelle, and C. Christina Zhang. 2016. Framing corruption in the Chinese government: A comparison of frames between media, government, and netizens. International Journal of Communication 10: 5494–5513.Google Scholar
Nip, Joyce Y.M., and Fu King-wa. 2016. Networked framing between source posts and their reposts: An analysis of public opinion on China's microblogs. Information, Communication & Society 19 (8): 1127–1149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiang, Ying. 2014. Reversed agenda-setting effects’ in China case studies of Weibo trending topics and the effects on state-owned media in China. Journal of International Communication 20 (2): 168–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tai, Qiuqing. 2014. China's media censorship: A dynamic and diversified regime. Journal of East Asian Studies 14 (2): 185–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministry of Information Industry of People’s Republic of China. 2005. Provisions for the administration of internet news information services. Retrieved from https://www.cecc.gov/resources/legal-provisions/provisions-on-the-administration-of-internet-news-information-services.
National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China. 2017. The catalogue of industries for guiding foreign investment (revision 2017). Retrieved from http://www.fdi.gov.cn/1800000121_39_4851_0_7.html.
Zhao, Yuezhi. 2008. Communication in China: Political economy, power, and conflict. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.Google Scholar
Zhang, Xinzhi, and Wan-Ying Lin. 2014. Political participation in an unlikely place: How individuals engage in politics through social networking sites in China. International Journal of Communication 8: 21–42.Google Scholar
Cheng, Joseph Yu-shek. 2011. China's Japan policy: Seeking stability and improvement in uncertainties. China: An International Journal 9 (02): 246–275.Google Scholar
Tsang, Steve. 2016. Contextualizing the China dream: A reinforced consultative Leninist approach to government. In China’s many dreams: Comparative perspectives on China’s search for national rejuvenation, ed. David Kerr, 10–34. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Callahan, William A. 2017. Dreaming as a critical discourse of national belonging: China dream, American dream and world dream. Nations and Nationalism 23 (2): 248–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Zheng. 2014. The Chinese dream: Concept and context. Journal of Chinese Political Science 19 (1): 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Yongjin. 2016. Introduction: Dynamism and contention: Understanding Chinese foreign policy under Xi Jinping. International Affairs 92 (4): 769–772.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Callahan, William A. 2015. Identity and security in China: The negative soft power of the China dream. Politics 35 (3–4): 216–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
1.Asia InstituteThe University of MelbourneParkvilleAustralia
Guan, T. J OF CHIN POLIT SCI (2018) 23: 603. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11366-018-9528-9
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11366-018-9528-9
Framing the Boundary of Sino-Japanese Conflicts in China’s Communication Sphere: a Content Analysis of the News Coverage of Japan and Sino-Japanese Controversies by the People’s Daily between 2001 and 2015 | SpringerLink
December 2018 , Volume 23, Issue 4, pp 603–618 | Cite as
This study provides a longitudinal analysis of the news coverage on Japan and Sino-Japanese relations between 2001 and 2015 by China’s most influential official media, the People’s Daily, by drawing upon framing theory. The results of the content analysis demonstrated that most of the time the People’s Daily did not disseminate anti-Japanese content as around 70% of the article frames were not related to conflict between China and Japan. Furthermore, the People’s Daily framed the boundary of Sino-Japanese conflicts within the political arena while portraying other fields of bilateral relations as benign and cooperative. In addition to framing Sino-Japanese conflicts as politically oriented rather than full-scale, more importantly, the People’s Daily narrowed down the bilateral conflicts to an either-or choice between historical disagreements or controversies over contemporary interests, rather than a combination of these situations. This reduction suggested that the People’s Daily, as the dominant actor of framing Japan in China’s political communication space, attempted to de-radicalize the antagonistic sentiments towards Japan and stabilize Sino-Japanese relations.
Sino-Japanese relations The Chinese media The People’s Daily Diaoyu/Senkaku islands dispute The Yasukuni Shrine controversy
Downs, Erica Strecker, and Phillip C. Saunders. 1999. Legitimacy and the limits of nationalism: China and the Diaoyu Islands. International Security 23 (3): 114–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollihan, Thomas, ed. 2014. The dispute over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands: How media narratives shape public opinion and challenge the global order. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Reilly, James. 2014. A wave to worry about? Public opinion, foreign policy and China's anti-Japan protests. Journal of Contemporary China 23 (86): 197–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
The Genron NPO. 2016. The 12th Japan-China joint opinion poll analysis report on the comparative data. Retrieved from http://www.genron-npo.net/pdf/2016forum_en.pdf.
Lye, Liang Fook, and Wu Dan. 2013. Growing anti-Japanese nationalistic sentiments in China. East Asian Policy 5 (4): 18–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reilly, James. 2011. Strong society, smart state: The rise of public opinion in China's Japan policy. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Stockmann, Daniela. 2013. Media commercialization and authoritarian rule in China. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cairns, Christopher, and Allen Carlson. 2016. Real-world islands in a social media sea: Nationalism and censorship on Weibo during the 2012 Diaoyu/Senkaku crisis. The China Quarterly 225: 23–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denemark, David, and Andrew Chubb. 2016. Citizen attitudes towards China's maritime territorial disputes: Traditional media and internet usage as distinctive conduits of political views in China. Information, Communication & Society 19 (1): 59–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyun, Ki Deuk, Jinhee Kim, and Shaojing Sun. 2014. News use, nationalism, and internet use motivations as predictors of anti-Japanese political actions in China. Asian Journal of Communication 24 (6): 589–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vreese, De, and H. Claes. 2005. News framing: Theory and typology. Information Design Journal & Document Design 13 (1): 51–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Entman, Robert M. 2004. Projections of power: Framing news, public opinion, and US foreign policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Bashir, Manaf. 2012. Framing an online social movement: How do the leadership and participants of the Egyptian 6th of April youth movement frame their Facebook acti
vism? International Review of Information Ethics 18: 71–83.Google Scholar
Meraz, Sharon, and Zizi Papacharissi. 2013. Networked gatekeeping and networked framing on# Egypt. The International Journal of Press/Politics 18 (2): 138–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shirk, Suzan. 2010. Changing media, changing China. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Zhang, Cui and Charles William Meadows III. 2012. International coverage, foreign policy, and national image: Exploring the complexities of media coverage, public opinion, and presidential agenda. International Journal of Communication 6: 76–95.Google Scholar
Scotton, James F., and William A. Hachten, eds. 2010. New media for a new China. Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Chen, Wenhong, and Stephen D. Reese, eds. 2015. Networked China: Global dynamics of digital media and civic engagement: New agendas in communication. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Chen, Michelle, and C. Christina Zhang. 2016. Framing corruption in the Chinese government: A comparison of frames between media, government, and netizens. International Journal of Communication 10: 5494–5513.Google Scholar
Nip, Joyce Y.M., and Fu King-wa. 2016. Networked framing between source posts and their reposts: An analysis of public opinion on China's microblogs. Information, Communication & Society 19 (8): 1127–1149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiang, Ying. 2014. Reversed agenda-setting effects’ in China case studies of Weibo trending topics and the effects on state-owned media in China. Journal of International Communication 20 (2): 168–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tai, Qiuqing. 2014. China's media censorship: A dynamic and diversified regime. Journal of East Asian Studies 14 (2): 185–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministry of Information Industry of People’s Republic of China. 2005. Provisions for the administration of internet news information services. Retrieved from https://www.cecc.gov/resources/legal-provisions/provisions-on-the-administration-of-internet-news-information-services.
National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China. 2017. The catalogue of industries for guiding foreign investment (revision 2017). Retrieved from http://www.fdi.gov.cn/1800000121_39_4851_0_7.html.
Zhao, Yuezhi. 2008. Communication in China: Political economy, power, and conflict. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.Google Scholar
Zhang, Xinzhi, and Wan-Ying Lin. 2014. Political participation in an unlikely place: How individuals engage in politics through social networking sites in China. International Journal of Communication 8: 21–42.Google Scholar
Cheng, Joseph Yu-shek. 2011. China's Japan policy: Seeking stability and improvement in uncertainties. China: An International Journal 9 (02): 246–275.Google Scholar
Tsang, Steve. 2016. Contextualizing the China dream: A reinforced consultative Leninist approach to government. In China’s many dreams: Comparative perspectives on China’s search for national rejuvenation, ed. David Kerr, 10–34. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Callahan, William A. 2017. Dreaming as a critical discourse of national belonging: China dream, American dream and world dream. Nations and Nationalism 23 (2): 248–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Zheng. 2014. The Chinese dream: Concept and context. Journal of Chinese Political Science 19 (1): 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Yongjin. 2016. Introduction: Dynamism and contention: Understanding Chinese foreign policy under Xi Jinping. International Affairs 92 (4): 769–772.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Callahan, William A. 2015. Identity and security in China: The negative soft power of the China dream. Politics 35 (3–4): 216–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
1.Asia InstituteThe University of MelbourneParkvilleAustralia
Guan, T. J OF CHIN POLIT SCI (2018) 23: 603. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11366-018-9528-9
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11366-018-9528-9