Examining China's Official Media Perception of the United States: a Content Analysis of People's Daily Coverage
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2015, Journal of Chinese Political Science/Association of Chinese Political Studies. How emerging powers perceive the predominant power in the international system is an important question in international relations and great power politics. This question is particularly important in the context of a rising China and its relations with the United States. While Chinas perception of the United States can be examined from many angles, this study focuses on Chinese official media perception by analyzing U.S.-related articles in the Peoples Daily from 2000 to 2010. Our data indicate that the Peoples Dailys overall attention to the United States declined while the overall image of the United States moved toward the positive direction. When breaking down the overall image by issue areas or dimensions, we find that the United States was primarily perceived negatively in the areas of political-ideological issues, military-strategic issues, and U.S. role in world affairs, whereas in the economic-trade and other issue areas, a favorable image of the United States appeared to be expanded. Key implications for U.S.-China relations are discussed in the conclusion.
