Role of Chinese Correspondents in the East Asian Cold War - A Case Study of a Former Reporter of Xinhua News Agency in Japan

Abstract

The study attempts to shed light on the role of Chinese correspondents in Sino-Japanese relations during a period of the Cold War. It examines the triple role of Chinese correspondents as reporters, political agents and China's modernizers. The Sino-Japanese journalist exchange of 1964 is one of important parts in promoting the normalization of China and Japan diplomatic relations. As a former Chinese correspondent stationed in Japan, Wu Xuewen witnessed and experienced some milestones in the development of Sino-Japanese relations in the East Asian Cold War. Drawing on the historical materials of archival documents, journalists’ memoirs and diaries and news articles, the study summarizes the Chinese correspondents played role in terms of China’s international relations and China’s domestic reform with “motherland consciousness”. Specifically, Chinese correspondents brought opportunities for an improved relationship between China and Japan in the cold war era. Meanwhile, the Chinese correspondents promoted China's social and economic development by introducing advanced experience of Japan. Their reporting practices were affected by the guidance from the media organization as well as the government.