The People’s Daily and China’s Japan policy. A Study of Media Discourse and China’s Foreign Policy Decision-Making, 1949-2005

This dissertation investigates the importance of discourse in the formation and effectiveness of foreign policy decisions in China. Building on the growing trend in Sino-Japanese research, and international relations research, which acknowledges the impact of domestic factors, such as public opinion and the media on political decision-making, this study argues that the way an object exists in the dominant discourse affects the way it can be treated by politicians.
Focusing on the points in modern Chinese history, during which the Chinese government desired to implement a policy or campaign regarding Japan which appeared to contradict the prevailing way in which Japan was represented in the People’s Daily – for example a policy which was anti-Japanese in character when the discourse was Japan friendly – this study examines how the discourse affected the government’s desire to implement such a policy, and the policy itself. With the help of qualitative research software, NVivo, and Critical Discourse Analysis, Qualitative Content Analysis and historical analysis, data pooled from People’s Daily articles throughout the years 1949-2005, as well as policy documents are analysed, to answer the central research question: does the discourse in the People’s Daily have an effect upon the Chinese government’s practice of foreign policy?
As it goes through the history of modern China comparing foreign policy decisions to the discursive environment in which they were made, this dissertation highlights the importance of qualitative, longitudinal research in the study of media effects, and aims to contribute with this not just to Sino-Japanese relations research, but also to the study of media effects in general, and international relations.