Multiple Ideological Dilemmas in China’s Political Transformation

Abstract

China has gradually emerged as a new regional and world great power in recent years. The Chinese government has also carried out political transformation in diplomatic strategies, internal propaganda, and other fields to cope with realpolitik. However, the new contradictions in politics and the remaining problems make the propaganda discourse and its internal logic adopted by the Chinese government more challenging to be self-appropriate. These problems become the “ideological dilemma” faced by the Chinese government. This study takes a qualitative analysis of Chinese propaganda in several fields over the years, makes a critical discourse analysis to discuss the intrinsic logic and the ideology behind the contradictions in it, and concludes the switch of Chinese diplomacy among traditional Confucianism, Marxism, and the modern nation state. These ideas support each other on many occasions and provide legitimacy, but in a broader context, they cannot be self-consistent and produce far-reaching negative political implications. Finally, this study takes Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan as an example to analyze the specific practical discourse application, their public impact, and the contradictions of Chinese official propaganda.