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The China–EU relation and media representation of China: the case of British newspaper’s coverage of China in the post-Brexit referendum era

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Abstract

This paper presents a comparative approach that discusses whether British newspapers with different political agendas report China differently, in the post-Brexit referendum UK. As UK still remains as a member country of the EU 3 years after the vote, the relationship between China and the UK is still a source that impacts China–EU relations. Specifically, political agendas of British newspapers heavily impact their reports of domestic political issues and of the EU; this research questions whether such a difference can be observed in reports of China or not. The research selects four popular newspapers in the UK, The Sun, The Times, The Guardian and The Mirror, and analyses their coverage of China between 01/01/2017 and 31/12/2018. Among them, The Sun and The Times are right-wing/leaning newspapers and support the Conservative Party, while The Guardian and The Mirror are left-wing/leaning and the Labour Party supporters. This study applies content analysis and compares three perspectives in these four newspapers’ reports of China: the number of reports, the topics of reports and the associations (threats or cooperate) with China. By comparing the similarity and difference in those four newspapers’ coverages, this paper aims to understand what image of China those popular British newspapers were creating for their readers, what impressions of China were generated and whether and how the coverage reflects the changing Sino–UK relations in the post-Brexit era. If so, how the right-leaning and left-leaning newspapers frame China differently.

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Notes

  1. Please note the numbers of reports excluded repeated articles. If a same article appeared four times respectively in the national edition, Scotland edition, Wales edition and England edition, then this article only counts as one occurrence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Media and Communication, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China

    Qingning Wang

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  1. Qingning Wang
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Correspondence to Qingning Wang.

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Wang, Q. The China–EU relation and media representation of China: the case of British newspaper’s coverage of China in the post-Brexit referendum era. Asia Eur J 20, 283–303 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-021-00611-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-021-00611-9

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