Abstract
The Scarborough Shoal stand-off and the oil rig crisis hold symbolic value to Chinese. During the crises, China’s claims have been recounted to the audiences some recent years via the media. As the way that China has mobilized the media outlets and diplomatic channels to cover the crises and to shape its national image of their rival(s) via their narratives turned the territorial controversies to nationalist demonstrations, deteriorated the bilateral relations and threatened reputations of each country, the demand to understand how the crises and media diplomacy could impact on the bilateral relations and the peace in the region has increased. According to Gilboa (1998, 2009), media diplomacy occurs when a government sends its diplomatic messages to its target audiences through speeches, press conferences, visits, or even leaks. To succeed, a government needs to have the ability to predict how different stakeholders will consume its message and how its target audiences are likely to respond. During the South China Sea (SCS) crises, China held press conferences and managed its relations with the media channels to handle the crises and to guarantee its national goals of “peaceful rising power”. The study uses the theoretical framework of media diplomacy to analyse media reports by China’s Xinhua and People’s Daily together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ press conferences. The goals are to understand how China deployed media diplomacy to fulfill its political goals in the crises and the SCS.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
China, Media Diplomacy, South China Sea Disputes
