Media Propaganda Techniques in the South China Sea Dispute

Abstract

Bilateral relationship between Indonesia and China which is a pivotal pathway to Global Maritime Axis’s foreign policy has been relentlessly addressed by President JokoWidodo since his early administration in 2014. However, Indonesia is aware that China’s claim of nine-dashed line (9DL) has overlapped with Indonesia’s sovereignty area, Natuna water. This territory dispute has pushed Indonesian government to take a decisive action by sending a verbal note protest to the Chinese embassy in Indonesia. In the perspective of international communication, this action has scrutinized the interdependence between media systems and political systems as a form of a symbiosis connecting and creating perceptions on the issue. Propaganda techniques of mass media, such as inter alia, name-calling, glittering generality, transfer, plain folks, testimonial, selection, bandwagon, and frustration of scapegoat, might create certain perceptions. This study maps the propaganda techniques by Indonesian high-circulated newspaper Kompas and China’s state-run media Xinhua news agency. This study applies quantitative content analysis method in the period of May 30 to July 30, 2016.