The Framing Perspective on the Discourse Construction of Chinese and Western Mainstream Media on the Xinjiang Cotton Dispute

Abstract

The dispute between China and western countries over Xinjiang cotton attracted attention from international media. There were many news reports about this issue arising in March 2021. News is a typical ideological discourse (Liu, 2016). This study attempts to unveil the relationship between language use and ideology by employing critical discourse studies (CDS) through keyword analysis, aiming at revealing the linguistic patterns in framing the dispute by different news report from three different media, namely China Daily, BBC and VOA. This study found that these media represented the issue in an objective tone, using both lexical tools and (in)direct quotations to constitute a perspectivization strategy. BBC and VOA used palpable allegations of the so-called “human rights violation” and ignorance of China’s contribution to the world economy. While China Daily used a more positive tone and projected it as politicalizing business issues, defining the so-called “human rights violation” as an ideological one held by the anti-China forces, and revealed the devastating impacts on every sides.