Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The “Cold-War” and post Cold-War period during the last five decades witnessed
socialist camp, China has always been a major focus of US foreign policy, and has
therefore attracted much attention in the US media. In surveying US’s media coverage of
Communist China in the past 50 years, it has generally been concluded that US news
organizations have either portrayed China in overly simplistic frames (Mann 1999), or
have focused on the failure of the Communist Party rule, social conflicts, and crises
Meanwhile, China is constantly changing. The 20- year economic reform initiated
since 1978 has put China right on track towards a market economy. The Chinese
government has still been insisting on the official rhetoric of communist and socialist
ideology; however, the orthodox principles of such ideology (class struggle, proletarian
distributed wealth, etc.) have all given way to so-called “socialism with Chinese
planned commodity economy, and the “open-door” policy (Liu & Wei 2002). Some hold
that China is now under the guise of socialism “ to achieve capitalist development”
(Dirlik & Zhang 1997, 5); others believe the situation is “semi-socialist, semi-capitalist”
(Pye 1999, 576). With its formal entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001,
it seems that China is slowly but surely integrating itself into the world economic system,
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human rights abuses and without freedom of speech. Nevertheless, tremendous changes
have indeed occurred in China socially, economically, and culturally (Cheng 1997).
So, how do US media portray and construct China’s reality at the beginning of the
21st century? Have they captured China’s profound social change? Compared with
previous coverage, is there any shift in the tone of US media coverage of China and any
This paper seeks to examine the most recent coverage of China between 2002 and
2003 by the most prestigious mainstream newspaper of the United States, The New York
Times. It finds that The New York Times stories have centered on the dilemma of China’s
“one party market economy,” delineating a transitional China marked by rapid economic
growth and social changes, yet besieged by serious social conflicts. With both a negative
side and some positive signs, China is seen as a land of crisis and opportunities. This
paper argues that The New York Times coverage of China indicates a subtle change in
tone and in the way of framing, with a more neutral and objective stance as well as a
more pluralistic perspective. All these suggest a tendency towards change in mainstream
Here I must clarify two different categories of news regarding China, namely,
China news and China policy news (Chang 1993). According to the generally accepted
definition, “the reporting of foreign affairs deals with the news about a country’s foreign
policy toward another nation… While the reporting of foreign news involves events
occurred in a foreign country” (Chang 1993, 88).) Thus, China news here refers to those
news reports of what is happening in China written and dispatched by The New York
Times reporters posted in mainland China as objective observers; these news reports have
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no direct relationship with what is happening in the United States, and do not deal with
US foreign policy debates. On the other hand, China policy news refers to those news
reports directly related to debates in or out of the United States about US China policy;
they have much to do with what is happening in the United States. This paper focuses on
the first category of news reports, namely, China news, and particularly, mainland China
news, while excluding news reports about Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.
Previous studies have indicated that United States news discourse about foreign
countries is consistent with its dominant capitalist and liberal democratic ideology, and
and Glasser 1978; Gaziano 1989). Contemporary Western and US media often
concentrate on the negative aspect of the developing countries, such as crisis, social
conflicts, and disasters; and this focus has been a common complaint of the developing
regimes are the most common narrative in the US media since World War II (Bennett &
Edelman 1985).
reflect not only what is going on in China but also what is going on in the United States”
(Lee 2001). For example, Perlmutter found the visual image of China reflected American
ideological and cultural views, and was thus often not objective depiction. The evaluation
of China was positive or negative in relation to shifts in American foreign policy, and the
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coverage tended to focus on dysfunctional social events and on activities of political
leaders (Perlmutter 1996). Yan discovered that the reports about China in The New York
Times from 1949 to 1988 was in accordance with the shift of US China policy (Yan
1993). Peng found that the overall tone in the coverage of China in The New York Times
and The Los Angles Times between 1992 and 2001 remained negative; and political and
ideological frames were unfavorable (Peng 2003). Furthermore, in his examination of the
coverage of China by The Washington Post and The New York Times during the cold
war’s collapse and post cold war years, Goodman found that 24% of the reports were
about severe crisis, 70% about social conflicts, and 32% about violence (Goodman 1999).
In particular, Mann provided a list of “frames” that American news agencies have
employed to cover China. He argued that American news agencies had always portrayed
China “in one overly simplistic frame” although “American frames of China change
dramatically from decade to decade” (Mann 1999, 103). By a “frame”, he meant a single
story, image or concept that governs the coverage. The changing frames that he has
In the 1950s and the 1960s, the “frame” was of China as little blue ants or
automatons. In the 1970s, following the Nixon administration’s opening, the frame was
of the virtuous (entertaining, cute) Chinese, displaying their timeless qualities even under
communism. In the 1980s, the frame was that China “going capitalist.” And for most of
the 1990s, the frame was of a repressive China (Mann 1999, 103).
Lee also found that US media reports about China showed a more positive and
optimistic mood in the 1980s than previous decades when witnessing China’s economic
reform and open-door policy, as if “China was on the verge of embracing capitalism and
even fostering democracy” (Lee 2001). However, after witnessing the 1989 suppression
of the student democratic movement by the Chinese government, the 1990s “swung back
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to the cynical and hostile mode” (Lee 2001), with negative reports of China
The reports on China’s human rights violations have accounted for a large share
of US media coverage of China in the 1990s. However, only after the June 4th massacre
did US media become more concerned about human rights in China (Goldman 1996). In
the previous two decades, human rights violations in China were not a major focus of US
media. The June 4th massacre highlighted the ideological confrontation between China
and the United States, and since then US media have paid special attention to China’s
human rights problems. As Herman and Chomsky maintain, the US government and
media marginalize dissent in friendly countries and play up human rights violation in
ideology and an “anti-communism” theme (Kobland, Du & Kwan 1992, 64). The anti-
communism theme and the portrait of a “corrupt, incompetent, and unyielding communist
regime” often dominated US coverage of China in the 1990s (Wang 1991, 59). However,
a subtle shift in US press coverage of China did occur noticeably during former US
president Clinton’s visit to China in 1998. At that time mainstream US media like The
Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times
published articles that objectively reported China’s progress and unexpected openness
(Ching 1998). This shift may signal a tendency to change in US media framing of China.
Theoretical Framework
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The theoretical framework for this paper rests on the theory of framing and the
social construction of reality. Originally proposed by Berger and Luckmann, this theory’s
central inquiry asks how it is possible that human activities can be adequately understood
1966, 18).
and Sherrill Mane argue that there exist three types of reality: “objective social reality
that is experienced as the objective world existing outside the individual and confronting
him or her as facts;” symbolic social reality “which consists of any form of symbolic
expression of objective reality such as art, literature, or media content;” and subjective
social reality “where both the objective and the symbolic realities serve as an input for
the construction of the individual’s own subjective reality” (Adoni & Mane 1984, 325-
326). Media content is a key element of both symbolic social reality and subjective social
reality. Human beings are both “creators and products” of the “dialectical process” of the
social construction of reality (Adoni & Mane 1984, 325). Therefore, scholars nowadays
tend to maintain that news is constructed reality, and mass media play a central role in the
process of social construction of reality (Tuchman 1978; Adoni & Mane 1984; Gamson
Traditional sociologies argue that society creates consciousness and news simply
mirrors society. However, more recent interpretive sociologies believe in human agency
and active participation that collectively shape the social world (Tuchman 1978). This
approach believes that news not only constitutes a shared social phenomenon, but also
defines and shapes social events (Tuchman 1978). In addition, news and media images
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evince the point of view of elites and help to transmit hegemonic definitions and
construction of reality through their writing. The terms “frame” and “framing” have
become important concepts in mass media studies. These terms are variously used to
describe how the writer selects, organizes, and emphasizes the material; how the reader
receives the message; and how frames and framing can influence the ideological content
of the message.
The earlier definitions and use of media frame and framing process come from
organization which govern events—at least social ones— and our subjective involvement
in them” (Goffman 1974, 10). Using a special term of “strip” as “an arbitrary slice or cut
from the stream of ongoing activity” (Goffman 1974, 10-11), Goffman held that frames
organize strips of everyday world and render them meaningful. Gitlin argued that “ media
frames, largely unspoken and unacknowledged, organize the world both for journalists
who report it and, in some important degree, for us who rely on their report” (Gitlin 1980,
7). It was Tuchman who first tried to apply a framing process to news work in her work
Making News (1978). In analyzing Goffman’s idea of frame, Tuchman maintained that
“the news frame organizes everyday reality and the news frame is part and parcel of
There exist two dimensions regarding the concept of frame per se —media frame
and audience frame. Previous studies have largely explored media frame with audience
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frame inadequately studied. For example, Gamson defined frame as a “central organizing
idea for the “interpretive package” (Gamson & Modigliani 1989, 3), and “a storyline or
unfolding narrative about an issue” (Gamson et.al 1992, 385). Entman argued that
“ News frames are constructed from and embodied in the keywords, metaphors, concepts,
symbols, and visual images emphasized in a news narrative” (Entman 1991). He also
held that two essential elements of framing were selection and salience: “To frame is to
select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a
communicating text," in this way the media influence the way people perceive an issue,
thus possibly changing their final evaluation of that issue (Entman 1993, 53).
This paper also focuses on the first dimension of the concept of frame-- media
“frames themselves are negotiated phenomena” (Tuchman 1978, 194). Then, the key
question facing framing analysis is: By what rule is everyday reality organized and
constructed?
Some scholars have argued that the framing process focuses the attention of
various social groups and ideologies to struggle over their preferred frames and the
consequent definition and construction of social reality (Gamson et.al 1992; Gurevitch &
Levy 1985). In associating frames with ideology, some scholars have also argued media
particular social class..." (Hackett 1984, 261). Akhavan-Majid and Ramaprasad argue
Ramaprasad 1998, 134). Previous studies also found different ideological angles affected
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news frames of US media in depicting events and accidents. In his well-known research
comparing US media narratives of the Korean Air Lines and Iran Air incidents, Entman
found that “the news stories about the US downing of an Iranian plane called it a
technical problem while the Soviet downing of a Korean jet was portrayed as a moral
outrage” (Entman 1991, 6). This paper argues that guided by hegemonic ideology, US
media framed China from certain perspectives, thus constructing a complicated and
Method
1.Sample
Through the New York Times News Tracker Alert system, and by using a key
word “China” to track, news reports of China from September 1, 2002 till March 31,
2003 have been collected. Excluding those reports regarding debates about China policy
and the US-China relationship written and released within the United States and other
The period between September 2002 and March 2003 witnessed an important
change in China’s political stage. Internally and politically, the CPC’s 16th Congress held
in November 2002, and the First Assembly of the 10th National People’s Congress
convened in March 2003 marked a transfer of power in post-Deng era. The so-called
“Third Generation” leaders of the CPC, mainly former Party and state president, Jiang
Zemin, former premier Zhu Rongji, and former leader of the National People’s Congress,
Li Peng, all stepped down during this period. Their retreat from China’s political stage
marked the end of an era immediately following the June 4th massacre and the death of
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Deng Xiaoping. With the debut of the “Fourth Generation” leaders led by Hu Jintao,
there is worldwide concern about China’s new direction, and whether the CPC would
eventually lose its grip on China, or would lead China to go through all political and
economic difficulties and troubles. Externally and globally, the year 2002 marked the
first anniversary of China’s membership in the WTO, and witnessed remarkable social
changes accompanying China’s gradual integration with the world economic system. As
2. Research questions
Based on the above discussion, three research questions are formulated as follows:
1) What are The New York Times discourses about China news during the period of
interest? And how do they frame China’s occurrences? What are those frames?
2) Is there any shift in the tone of The New York Times reports of China, and any
3) Does the anti-communism theme still prevail into the 21st century?
3. Research method
In the first step of analysis, I categorize the content of 206 stories, demonstrate
their basic themes, and identify the tone of their coverage. In the second step, I use a
sees the media as “part of a cultural system worthy of a dynamic analysis in its own
right,” rather than as “an environmental stimulus” (Gamson, 1988, p.165); it also
emphasizes the role of media frames in shaping political culture (Gamson, 1988).
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According to this approach, media discourses can be “conceived of as a set of interpretive
packages” with frames at their cores to serve as “a central organizing idea” (Gamson &
Modigliani, 1989, p.3). The package is recognized “as a whole by the use of a variety of
symbolic devices (also termed tropes or figures of speech) that display its characteristic
catchphrases, depictions, visual images, roots, consequences, etc. In the research I first
deconstruct the accounts of commentaries into key frames and identify symbolic devices,
thus creating what Gamson and Lasch called “signature matrix” (Gamson and Lasch
1983, p.400), then reconstruct them into interpretative packages (see Table 3). By this
Findings
The main content of these 206 stories in the New York Times is categorized in Table
In this research, the positive tone is defined as the favorable and optimistic evaluation
of China’s social, economic and political realty; the moderately positive tone is defined
as progress, improvement and hope indicated in the stories, although the overall reality is
unsatisfactory; the neutral tone is defined as objective reports without explicit judgment
of social conditions; and the negative tone is defined as unfavorable and pessimistic
reports and evaluations. For example, positive tone would include a story arguing that
“China’s economy has defied the worldwide slowdown and continued its long streak of
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rapid growth, raising expectations that it has begun to pull its weight as a engine for Asia
and the world” (December 16, 2002), and a story saying US-China relation “has
improved significantly since the early days of the Bush administration” (October 25,
2002). Moderately positive tone would include a story describing “a resurgence of faith, a
“officials’ more tolerant and open attitude toward churches” (October 6, 2002), and a
story saying worker protest against corruption resulted in the removing of corrupt
officials. Neutral tone would define a story talking about steel and oil production, or the
issue of bonds and e-commerce without making explicit evaluation about current issues.
Finally, negative tone defines a story discussing severe social problems and crises such as
deaths, accidents and disaster, or the looming catastrophe of AIDS and SARS, or human
rights violations. Two coders have coded these stories in terms of tone respectively, with
As Table 1 and Table 2 show, the stories talking about China’s human rights
violation account for the largest share of the coverage (17.5%). This category deals with
four subthemes: Tibet and ethnic issues; the issue of freedom of religion; the issue of
dissent, labor leaders and protestors; and the issue of information control. The tone of
coverage is largely negative (30 out of 36). The second largest share of stories is those
reporting China’s economic and business development, constituting 17%. Its tone of
coverage is mainly neutral (24 out of 35) and positive (10 out of 35). The stories dealing
with China’s leadership reshuffle and the transfer of power account for the third largest
share (13.6%), and the tone of coverage is largely neutral (14 out of 28) with an even
distribution of negative and positive reports (6 vs.6). The following categories are those
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uncovering China’s social conflicts and problems (11.7%), and those discussing foreign
relation (11.2%). Their tones of coverage are largely negative (18 out of 24) and neutral
(14 out of 23) respectively. The remaining categories are health, art, science, legal and
Overall speaking, The New York Times coverage of China during the period of
research interest is largely neutral (82 or 39.8%) and negative (75 or 36.4%), especially
when the reports deal with China’s human rights violation and social problems.
Moderately positive and positive reports constitute 11.2% and 12.6% respectively,
especially when they deal with China’s economic development, social life and the orderly
transition of power.
B.Discourse analysis
the rows represent the core frames of different packages and the columns represent
symbolic devices (Gamson and Lasch 1983). The signature matrix is illustrated in Table
3.
Upon the completion of the signature matrix, six discourses are identified: China
evil human rights violator; as a transitional country besieged by various social problems;
artistic and cultural country. They are analyzed one by one in the following section.
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This discourse covered every aspect of China’s economy and business, from the
launch of joint ventures on cars, oil production, steel, mobile phones, e-commerce,
foreign partners, the sharing of China’s vast media market by big foreign media
corporations, the march of foreign chain stores into China, and the intensive construction
in China’s cities and ports. The stories portrayed a busy, prosperous and promising China
with a high economic growth of nearly 8%, in striking contrast to the declining economic
performance worldwide.
The central frame emerged from this discourse is the image of China’s rise as an
economic superstar and its gradual integration into the world economic system, which
will be greatly beneficial not only to Asia but to the United States and the whole world.
The discourse has several themes: First, China’s economy can serve as an engine for Asia
and the world. “China’s economy has defied the worldwide slowdown and continued its
long streak of rapid growth, raising expectations that it has begun to pull its weight as a
engine for Asia and the world”. China “has begun to rival Japan as the pivotal player in
Asia’s economy. It has become the largest export market for both South Korea and
Taiwan, for example, and has elbowed out Japan to become Asia’s biggest exporter to the
United States” (December 16, 2002). Foreign businessmen can expect to make a fortune
in China, for, although “plenty of foreign investors still may lose money, they are
increasingly outnumbered by multinationals making profits that if not quite justifying the
exaggeration of the 1990’s, at least make China an indispensable part of their global
operations” (January 5, 2003). Second, China has made significant progress in its
freshman year in the World Trade Organization and has been evaluated very positively
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and optimistically. “There has been significant progress in the promulgation of new
(December 8, 2002). Despite the fact that China’s annual trade surplus with the United
States is about $100 billion, the US trade representative, Robert Zoellick, said that
“progress has been made on many issues;” and “American businesses have voiced limited
criticisms of Chinese trade policies, saying that they are improving and are providing
more access for American companies to sell to Chinese citizens and businesses”
(February 20, 2003). Third, thus a rising China is NOT posing a threat to Asia, the United
States, and the world. Citing concerns of the Asian countries that their countries would
eventually work as “low-end suppliers to China,” the story held Asian neighbors’ concern
is largely rooted in historical memory and their current economic situation. In fact,
“China is not behaving in an expansionist way, and it still must cope with poverty and
other social problems” (November 24, 2002). A stable government and a booming
economy accorded with the interest of Asian countries more than an economic collapse
and a government taken over by extreme nationalists (November 24, 2002). A story titled
“China: Partner, Rival or Both?” (March 2, 2003) argued that “China’s growth has been
reinforcing one of the most prominent trends in America’s recent economic history: its
“forced American companies to pass along some of the savings to consumers,” thus
helping deflate in the manufacturing sector. Besides, “China’s fast growth helped
Southeast Asian recover from its financial crises in the late 1990’s, muting the ill effects
on the United States.” And “The U.S. is going to have increasing leverage over China
15
because of our economic relationship.” As for the so-called China threat, the story cited a
professor of economics as saying “ten years from now, it will still be a very poor country.
It will be better off—they’ve been growing rapidly—but dominate the United States?
That’s hysteria.”
The underlying message conveyed by the major frames of this discourse is that
China is a powerful force in the world (“engine,” “pivotal player,” “biggest exporter,”
“ fast growth,” potential for “making profits”), and a friend and partner not an adversary
or enemy. With its gradual integration with the world economic system, it is showing a
The basic argument of this discourse is that the US-China relation “has improved
significantly since the early days of the Bush administration” (October 25, 2002), and
now is moving toward a more stable, friendly and cooperative relationship. On the one
hand, China is determined to “cultivate closer economic and political ties with the United
(September 26, 2002); On the other hand, “ Washington seeks China’s cooperation in the
war on terror and acquiescence to a strong United Nations resolution on Iraq” (September
26, 2002). Although China is still uncomfortable with the US’s dominance in
international affairs and arrogant military presence, the two countries share more
common concerns ranging from terrorism and regional security, to weapon proliferation
and international trade (November 15, 2002). Therefore, “ the more traditional pro-
business, pro-engagement view of China seems to have prevailed, at least for now”
(October 21, 2002). Signals for such improvement in bilateral ties included China’s
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playing down of U.S. navy violation of 200-mile zone (September 26, 2002), its backing
a resolution on Iraq, and “the highest level of reception” at Bush’s ranch in Crawford
offered by the US side to former Chinese president Jiang Zemin (October 21, 2002).
However, while China is rising as a significant regional power and reshaping its military
force, the United States does not considered it a potential threat, for China “lacks an arms
industry to build its own high-tech weapons,” it “has a long way to go to become a first-
tier military power” (October 16, 2002). Therefore, the stories called for the United States
and China “to come to a strategic understanding” in order to avoid conflict of interest
“engagement” and “understanding.” Taken together, they signal a stable, friendly and
mutually beneficial relationship between the United States and China. The underlying
message conveyed by the discourse is, still, that China is a partner, a friend, not a rival.
The discourse focused on various flagrant human rights abuses carried out by the
Chinese government. It has several subthemes: First, the violation of free information
flow, freedom of speech and press, as reflected in China’s government repeated blocking
of the Internet search engine Google (September 4, 14, 20, 2002), and its blocking access
to some 50,000 sites out of 200,000 popular web addresses, discovered by a Harvard Law
School study (December 4, 2002). The basic argument of these stories is that the
suppression of free information and free speech not only “cuts the lifeblood of modern
and democracy, but also will ultimately hurt the rule of the Chinese government itself.
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Second, the violation of the right of ethnic minorities, as reflected in the Chinese
government’s reluctance to enter into a dialogue with the Dalai Lama’ envoy on Tibet’s
autonomy (September 11 and 30, 2002), its detention of a Tibetan nun (October 18,
2002), the passing of the death sentence on a Lama and his follower (December 10, 2002;
February 23, 2003), the execution of a Tibetan on the charge of bomb attacks (January 28,
2003), and the repression of a Muslim group in Xinjiang in the name of fighting terrorism
(September 1, 2002).
Third, the serious violation of the freedom of religion and worship. This is
considered the worst human rights abuse in light of the long Western Christian tradition
and the respect for the freedom of religion. This subtheme mainly deal with the
persecution of Falun Gong followers and Christians. While reporting the arrest and trial
of Falun Gong followers because of their worship practices or hijacking cable television
programming (September 19, 21 and 25, 2002; January 30 and March 13, 2003), and the
sentence and torture of Christians (October 9, 11 and November 26, 2002), the stories
pinpoint the dictatorial and totalitarian nature of the Chinese communist regime. The
argument is that “China is in many ways freer than it has ever been, and it’s easy to be
dazzled by the cell phones and skyscrapers. But alongside all that sparkles is the old
police state” (November 26, 2002). However, the stories do notice changes even in this
darkest side of China’s human rights sector. The changes are indicated in the flourishing
to money from international Catholic organizations;” and officials’ more tolerant and
open attitude toward churches (October 6, 2002). The change is also reflected in China’s
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overturning of the death sentences of Christian leaders under pressure from international
community (October 9, 2002). An article asserting that China is still a police country also
admits “there is progress…” and “in some parts of China Christians worship completely
freely. But in other areas the authorities brutally crush the independent churches…”
“ Increasingly, a historic change is visible: Citizens of China are becoming less afraid of
dissidents. These stories mainly cover the detention of exiled dissidents who had engaged
in democratic movements in China (December 20 and 21, 2002), the release and sending
(December 29, 2002), the cracking down on worker protests (January 2, 2003), and the
arrest of labor leaders (January 1, 2003). This coverage reveals the Chinese government’s
merciless suppression of freedom of opinion and dissidents, nipping any democratic bud
that would pose potential threat to its rule. The latent meaning in these stories is that there
is still no room for openly pro-democracy activities in contemporary China; There is still
Fifth, the violation of international refugee law. This subtheme deal with the
North Korean refugees who attempted to seek asylum in the diplomatic district of Beijing
January 21 and 22, February 8, 2003). By emphasizing the Chinese police’s thwarting
and arrest of these North Korean refugees, the stories argue that China have violated
international refugee law and damaged the human rights of these refugees.
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To summarize, this discourse reveals the darkest side of China’s situation: the
rampant human rights abuses, by using such strong descriptive words as “violation,”
“suppression”, etc. Its frame is that although changes are happening, China is
fundamentally a police state without basic human rights, namely, free information,
freedom of speech and press, freedom of religion, and citizens’ right to pro-democracy
4. The discourse of a problem-China as besieged with various social problems and crises
problems, incidents, deaths, and diseases. They are corruptions (September 13 and
October 20, 2002; January 1, 2003); school children’s death caused by poisoning food
and a collapsed guardrail (September 18 and 25, 2002); rampant piracy (November 1,
2002); rising rural suicides (November 29, 2002); natural disasters like earthquake and
flood (December 15, 2002; February 25, 2003); coal mine explosion and the killing of
workers (January 28, February 18, and March 25, 2003); university campus blasts
(February 25 and March 9, 2003); the murder of a rich businessman (January 24 and
February 1, 2003); the protest of unemployed workers and students (January 9, March 10
and 13, 2003); as well as the looming catastrophe of AIDS and SARS (September 16,
October 1, 15, November 29, 2002; January 14, March 15, 17, 18, 20, 26, 27, 28, 2003).
These stories argue that serious social problems, class conflicts and crises are caused by
unprecedented social transformation in every aspect of life in China, and are even
worsened by corrupt and neglecting officials, the widening gap between rich and poor,
the ineffective and unjust judiciary system, and the government’s deliberate hiding of the
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truth. For example, one article argues: “In a country where lawsuits and the court system
are unreliable venues for seeking justice, disgruntled people often resolve disputes
themselves” (February 25, 2003). The image of China in this discourse is a problem
country on the verge of volcanic eruption, with severe social conflicts threatening to
explode. The frame of this discourse is that a transitional China is being confronted and
challenged by intensified social contradictions and conflicts that may cause crises and
social turmoil that threaten social stability. The latent message implied in the discourse is
that China’s current system is incapable of dealing with these problems and reconciling
power
This discourse mainly discusses the process and leadership reshuffle occurring
during the 16th Communist Party of China Congress in November 2002 and during the
10th National People’s Congress in March 2003. During these two assemblies, 59-year-
old Hu Jintao replaced Jiang Zemin to take over power as Chinese Party Secretary and
state President; and Wen Jiabao replaced Zhu Rongji as Premier. However, Jiang Zemin
still maintained his power as the chairman of the Central Military Commission and was
very much in control. In addition to the coverage of the process and results of the
meetings and leadership changes (September 5, October 23, 25, November 13, 14, 15, 16,
21, 2002; March 5, 6, 16, 18, 2003), the discourse has two subthemes: First, the analysis
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In analyzing the performance of Jiang Zemin administration, the stories argue that
the legacy of Jiang Zemin administration was “auspicious but mixed” with both positive
and negative sides. The positive assessment includs the transformation of China from “an
isolated, introspective country” as it was in 1989 to a major global player and a member
of the WTO; a high economic growth rate of near 10 percent for many years; and a vastly
better living standard and expanded personal freedom. The negative assessment includes
a host of domestic problems Jiang had left behind him, like corruption, unemployment,
the lack of a social security system, and the widening gap between rich and poor, etc.
“There was widespread satisfaction with Chinese economic growth and the rise in its
international standing and influence… But people also complained of serious anxieties
and concerns, about issues like corruption, China’s poorly functioning legal system and
their lack of voice in government.” It is generally considered that Jiang was more widely
given credit for well handling the Asian financial crisis and keeping the economy
growing rapidly, and for arranging China’s entry into the WTO. But “he never completed
the promised transition from central planning to a market economy. The banking system
is still hobbled by bad loans to state enterprises and state projects that Mr. Zhu
championed….China still has no national welfare system to care for the unemployed”
(March 19, 2003). Thus one of biggest shortcoming of Jiang Zemin administration is the
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In the observation and analysis of the earliest performance of new President Hu
Jintao and new Premier Wen Jiabao, the stories hold that “Mr. Hu takes over a country of
dazzling economic growth and social change, one that is taking a more confident place in
world affairs. But he must also cope with official corruption, spreading unemployment, a
widening gap between rich and poor and bubbling demands for political change that may
severely test the party” (November 14, 2002). Yet the new generation leaders may be
already well aware of the problems facing the country and begining to take initial steps to
tackle them. Such steps were noticed by sharp New York Times reporters and they were
considered to be signaling a “ subtle shift from the decade-long reign of Mr. Jiang.” “Mr.
Jiang courted capitalists and sought to foster a middle class, while steering billions of
dollars in state funds to build roads, bridges, subways and ports in prosperous east coast
cities. Mr. Wen spent the Chinese New Year holiday at the bottom of a coal shaft in the
less developed west. Mr. Hu visited herders in frigid Inner Mongolia. They have
emphasized building a social security system to replace the withered socialist welfare
state that has left tens of millions of workers without adequate pensions or health care.
They have stressed the urgency of reducing the wealth gap between urban and rural
residents. Their focus on the poor reflects worries that the traditional constituents of the
Communist Party could threaten its hold on power” (March 17, 2003). At the same time,
The New York Times stories also pointed out the new leadership today must “face dual
dissent and challenges to party doctrine,” and the deeper problem of a lack of
23
Accompanying the transfer of power, the subtle change in political arena has
indeed occurred and has been captured by The New York Times reporters. In a story titled
“Chinese Freer to Speak and Read, but Not Act” (February 12, 2003), it was observed
that “ideas that once could land someone in prison are acceptable commerce today.” The
dissidents “have found outlets for their essays on overseas Web sites and have been
cooperating with intellectuals at universities, where talk of multiparty democracy and free
trade unions—ideas that would have meant jail time a decade ago—are now common
cafeteria discussions.” Some dissidents are “quite acceptable, and more and more people
are developing an interest in democracy.” "Longtime dissidents say they are finding new
outlets for their work and new ways to live,” they believe “the system is changing,
becoming more public and open.” In addition, new President Hu Jintao also signaled “he
would tolerate more diversity in the state-controlled press, even criticizing outlets that
routinely parrot the party line without producing fresh insights.” “ His apparent
enthusiasm for more open debate led to a flurry of frank news stories and commentaries
in the past several week, including many blunt calls for political reform” (March 19,
2003).
between hope, opportunities and challenge for the elimination of social disparities and for
This last discourse depicts a diversified social and cultural life of China with a
pluralistic perspective. It mainly talks about art and culture, like Ha Jin’s novel, the films
directed by Jiang Wen and Zhang Yang, Chinese artists’ experiments with avant-garde
24
art, the entry into China by Broadway music, Rolling Stone’s music, and Hollywood
films (September 18, 22, October 22, 25, December 18, 23, 2002; March 13, 2003). By
covering cultural life of contemporary Chinese society, these stories tell the hardships
inflicted on the Chinese during the suppressed “Cultural Revolution” era (Ha Jin’s
novel); reflect the tension between art and politics in China (avant-garde art); reveal
urban youth’s confusion and quest for the meaning of life in a rapidly changing society
(Zhang Yang’s film); and discover the role of American popular culture plays in
transmitting Western values and in spurring yearnings for accelerated changes among
ordinary Chinese people (Hollywood films). The frame here is that popular culture has
exposed deep, unknown emotion of Chinese people in a transitional era, and has revealed
Conclusion
This paper has analyzed The New York Times coverage of China between 2002
and 2003 both quantitatively and qualitatively. Findings indicate that the news stories
have primarily centered on the dilemma and “unresolved contradiction of the Chinese
experiment with a one-party market economy” (November 15, 2002). As for the
development of market economy, the reports are mainly positive; as for one-party rule,
the reports are mainly negative, which shows The New York Times reports are tied closely
to the dominant capitalist and liberal democratic ideology. Altogether, the reports
delineate a transitional China besieged with serious social problems, yet characterized by
dazzling social changes and profound social transformation. Accordingly, crises and
opportunities coexist, and hope and despair compete. Findings also indicate that The New
25
York Times reports show a more objective tone and more positive evaluation of China’s
reality and future, with neutral and positive reports as a whole outnumbering negative
reports. The stories do capture the positive social and political changes, whether they are
remarkable or subtle. As such, the first two research questions have been answered. For
the third question, guided by dominant liberal democratic principles, The New York Times
stories still have an anti-Communism theme, but they do embrace a more pluralistic
perspective, and have more objective and comprehensive reports. Therefore, they are
Table 1. The Categorization of the New York Times Reports of China Between 2002
and 2003
Economy/ Transfer Social Human Rights Violation Foreign Health Art Science Others Legal/
Business of Power/ Problems/ Relation Political
Leadership Conflicts/ Progress
Reshuffle Crises
26
Table 2. The New York Times Tone of Coverage by Categories
Transfer of 28 6 2 14 6
Power/
Leadership
Reshuffle
Social 24 2 1 3 18
Problems/
Conflicts/
Crises
Human Rights 36 2 0 4 30
Violation
Foreign 23 3 3 14 3
Relation
Health 16 0 1 4 11
Art 11 2 1 7 1
Science 8 2 2 4 0
Others 20 2 5 7 6
Legal/ 5 3 1 1 0
Political
Progress
Total Count 206 23 (11.2%) 26 (12.6) 82 (39.8) 75 (36.4)
Table 3. Signature Matrix for the New York Times Coverage of China between 2002
and 2003
27
Discourse Frame Metaphor Catchphrases Depictions Roots Consequences
The emergence China’s An To say China China is hot; China is not a
of China as an economic rise engine will At the beating potential
economic and its for Asia dominate the heart of an threat to Asia,
superstar gradual and the United export the US and the
integration world States is machine world; A
into the world hysteria. partner and
economic friend, not
system will enemy
be greatly
beneficial not
only to Asia
but to the
United States
and the whole
world.
Cooperative Friendly The more China has China is China is a
partner of the bilateral traditional considerable determined to friend, a
U.S. relation pro-business, influence “cultivate partner, not a
helpful for pro- closer rival
both sides engagement economic and
view of political ties
China seems with the
to have United
prevailed. States,” while
“ Washington
seeks China’s
cooperation in
the war on
terror and
acquiescence
to a strong
United
Nations
resolution on
Iraq”
A human rights Although An old Without free Undermines
violator changes are police information, the spirit of
happening, state freedom of transparency,
China is speech and openness and
fundamentally press, freedom democracy,
a police state of religion, and ultimately
without basic and citizens’ hurt the rule of
human rights right to pro- the Chinese
democracy government
activities itself.
28
intensified corruption, class conflicts national
social suicides, and crises, stability.
contradictions AIDS and which are
and conflicts SARS even
worsened by
corrupt
officials,
widening gap
between the
rich and the
poor, the
ineffective
and unjust
judiciary
system, and
the
government’s
deliberate
hiding of
truth.
Leadership Hope, Hu The Chinese The most The deeper The new
reshuffle and opportunities Jintao: experiment orderly and problem of a leadership
transfer of power and challenge Mystery with a “one- rule-based lack of today must
for a long Man at party market transition in “convincing face
expected and the Helm economy” the 81-year philosophy or unemployment
long-denied history of the vision for the and the rich-
political Party; Legacy nation’s poor gap,
reform and of growth and future,” rampant
the tight control continue on corruption,
elimination of economic dual crises of
social transformation identity and
disparities but not legitimacy.
coexist. political
reform
Artistic China Popular Hollywood
culture has is helping to
exposed deep, democratize
unknown China
emotion of
Chinese
people in a
transitional
era, and has
disclosed
hidden
message of
yearning for
change
29
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