The Dynamics of Reports on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Cambodian Mainstream Media Before and After the COVID-19

Abstract

The outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020 greatly slowed down the economic and trade exchanges as well as the cultural exchanges among countries. The Chinese government and media are facing challenges communicating internationally the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI). This paper selects the reports of mainstream media in Cambodia related to the “Belt and Road” Initiative before and after the epidemic, and comprehensively analyzes the research samples with the help of content analysis methods. By studying the law of “other shaping” of the image of the BRI reported by the Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP) and the Phnom Penh Post, the two major mainstream media representing Cambodia’s official and private perspectives, respectively, it is helpful to analyze internal laws and explore the logic behind the discourse of the two Cambodia’s mainstream media; by excavating the attitude and value orientation hidden behind the Cambodian media towards the BRI, the paper comes up with the objective conclusion that the national interests and economic benefits brought by “the Belt and Road” projects are the key internal factors influencing the position of Cambodia’s mainstream media. The paper also notices that the spillover effect of China-US competition has an important impact on the Cambodian mainstream media’s coverage of the “Belt and Road” Initiative, and it also has significance for China to look at external communications and seek a breakthrough in vision by studying the international communication of the United States to Southeast Asia in history and learning from its successful experiences.