Chinese Television and Soft Power Communication in Australia

Meili

Description

A systemic test of the success of China’s soft power message projection

In the context of China’s ascendancy, the world watches and listens. China wants to project a soft power image. One channel for its soft power communication – about its success and international cooperation – is international broadcasting. ‘Chinese Television and Soft Power Communication in Australia’ discusses China’s soft power communication approach and investigates information handling between China and its targeted audiences in the eyes of key influencers – intermediate elites (public diplomacy policy elites in particular) in China and Australia. Drawing on the case of the state-owned broadcaster CGTN – viewed by China as an essential soft power tool for framing its voice – the book examines empirically the reception to China’s soft power messaging by Australian audiences and the factors underpinning its reception.

The book provides a holistic, systemic evaluation of China’s soft power messaging seen as part of its power portfolio and what this means to the world order. Through media frame analysis of CGTN’s framing of China’s most ambitious and comprehensive initiative – the Belt and Road Initiative – and interviews with intermediate elites in China and the typical case of a Western target audience in Australia, it presents an in-depth theoretical discussion of the mechanisms of China’s communication approach through a soft power lens. It also reflects on an exploration of journalistic operations within CGTN (with staff from several professional cultures) and a systemic test of how successful/unsuccessful China’s soft power message projection is in terms of congruence between projected and received frames, as a pivotal factor of its power status.

List of Illustrations; Acknowledgements; List of Abbreviations; 1. Introduction; 2. China’s Soft Power Strategy through Media; 3. International Relations, Information Flow and Soft Power; 4. Intended and Received Frames of China and the Expectation on Media; 5. Belt and Road Initiative in the Framing Process; 6. Discussion and Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Sujets

• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• Diplomacy
• Political opportunity
• International relations
• Diplomatie (homonymie)

Informations

• Publié par: Anthem Press
• Date de parution: 16 décembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785272042
• Langue: English

Extrait

Chinese Television and Soft Power Communication in Australia
Chinese Television and Soft Power Communication in Australia
Mei Li
Anthem Press
An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company
www.anthempress.com
This edition first published in UK and USA 2020
by ANTHEM PRESS
75–76 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA, UK
or PO Box 9779, London SW19 7ZG, UK
and
244 Madison Ave #116, New York, NY 10016, USA
Copyright © Mei Li 2020
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-13: 978-1-78527-202-8 (Hbk)
ISBN-10: 1-78527-202-0 (Hbk)
This title is also available as an e-book.
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
1. Introduction
China’s Rise, World Reaction and Puzzles for China
China’s Adoption of Soft Power
Communicating China’s Message through Soft Power Means
Research Objectives and Questions
2. China’s Soft Power Strategy through Media
International Broadcasting in International Relations
China’s International Broadcasting as An Important Public Diplomacy Approach
CCTV NEWS: A tool of China’s soft power?
Chinese media culture
The Australian Reaction to China’s Soft Power Initiatives
Soft or sharp power?
3. International Relations, Information Flow and Soft Power
Constructing a Rising China
Constructivist international relations and the construct of world politics
The working dynamics within the GRC
Noopolitik, information flow and soft power
Framing: Organisation of experience
Framing process
International Broadcasting and Soft Power
Revisiting international broadcasting in the soft power mechanism
Cultural considerations: Professionalism as an index of media framing culture
Soft Power as a Communicative Approach of Power Relations
Understanding China’s international media push in the communicative dynamics
A Process Model of Information Flow
Reconciling the Chinese public diplomacy model with cross-cultural audience framing
4. Intended and Received Frames of China and the Expectation on Media
A Brief Introduction to the Data Collection and Analysis
The operationalisation of framing analysis
China in the Frames of the Chinese
Complex China frame
Economy frame: The main source of attraction
Culture frame: The card of soft power?
Political system frame: The best choice?
Science and technology frame
China in the Frames of the Australian Public Diplomacy Elites
Complex China frame
Economy frame
Culture frame
Political system frame: Diversified
Science and technology frame
The Role of Media
Chinese expectation on media push
Australian framing of media
5. Belt and Road Initiative in the Framing Process
BRI in State Framing
Cooperation frame
Development frame
Rule-abiding frame
Open and mutual benefit frame
Role of China frame
Framing BRI in CCTV NEWS
Professionalism as an index of media culture
Framing BRI in Closer to China
Defining BRI frame
Countering concerns frame
The Australian Reception of BRI Frames
Australians’ understanding of BRI
Response to the CCTV NEWS framing of BRI
6. Discussion and Conclusion
Intended, Mediated and Received Frames
Intended frames
Mediated frames
Received frames
An Effective Tool of Soft Power?
Through the lens of framing process
Through the lens of information flow
Through the lens of soft power
Bibliography
Index
ILLUSTRATIONS
Figures
3.1 Information flow
3.2 Soft power model of information flow
4.1 Matrix of framing analysis
5.1 The word frequency in Vision and Action
5.2 Timeline of the programme and the topics in Closer to China I
5.3 Timeline of the programme and the topics in Closer to China II
Tables
4.1 Complex China frame
4.2 Economy frame
4.3 Culture frame
4.4 Political system frame
4.5 Science and technology frame
4.6 Economy frame
4.7 Culture frame
4.8 Political system frame
4.9 Science and technology frame
4.10 Channels for China-related information
5.1 Cooperation frame
5.2 Development frame
5.3 Rule abiding frame
5.4 Open and mutual benefit frame
5.5 Role of China frame
5.6 Interviewees during observation
5.7 Framing BRI in Closer to China
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book could not have come to fruition without the kindest support and help emotionally and intellectually from many people at various times and in numerous ways. The biggest debt of gratitude goes to Prof. Naren Chitty AM, whose extremely generous guidance, encouragement and support were the most important factors that assured completion of this study. I would also like to thank Associate Prof. Eric Louw from the University of Queensland without whose encouragement my PhD research may not have come out as a book.
I sincerely thank the scholars and media professionals from around the world who offered encouragement and feedback for my research for this book at different stages. They are (in the order of my meetings with them) Prof. Joseph Nye, Prof. Jian Wang, Prof. Jin Jianbin, Prof. Fan Hong, Prof. Shi Anbin, Ms Li Wensha, Prof. Zhong Xin, Prof. Gary Kreps, Prof. Jan Mellisen, Prof. Hugo de Burgh and Prof. Daya Thussu.
Special thanks are due to Prof. Zhang Yuqiang, Dr Ye Hongyu, Associate Prof. Huang Dianlin, Prof. Huang Kuo, Ms Yang Ning, Ms Mei Yan and Ms Guo Chun for their support when I was conducting research in Beijing and Washington DC.
I am also tremendously grateful to the anonymous respondents in Australia and China for their time and valuable insights.
I would also like to thank the team from Anthem: Ms Megan Greiving, Mr Tej P. S. Sood and many others for their support during the publication process.
Last but not the least, my deepest gratitude goes to my family for their constant love and support and for the joy they have brought to me during the years of hard work as a researcher.
ABBREVIATIONS ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation AIIB Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASIO Australian Security Intelligence Organisation BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BRFIC Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation BRI Belt and Road Initiative CCTV China Central Television CCTV NEWS China Central Television English news channel CGTN China Global Television Network CIA Central Intelligence Agency CIPG China International Publishing Group CNN Cable News Network CNR China National Radio CRI China Radio International CPC Communist Party of China GRC Global republican confederacy IPTV Internet protocol television NSW New South Wales OBOR One Belt One Road PBS Public Broadcasting Service PD Public Diplomacy PPP Purchasing power parity PRC People’s Republic of China R&D Research and development RT Russia Today SARFT State Administration of Radio, Film and Television S&T Science and Technology SBS Special Broadcasting Service SCMP South China Morning Post SMH Sydney Morning Herald TPP Trans-Pacific Partnership NWICO New World Information and Communication Order WICWS World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit WMS World Media Summit WSIS World Summit on the Information Society USIA United States Information Agency USIS United States Information Service VOA Voice of America
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
China’s Rise, World Reaction and Puzzles for China
China’s rise has been one of the most significant issues in world politics in the last few decades. Celeritous economic growth has greatly boosted China’s status in world affairs. Since the adoption of its reform and opening-up policy in the late 1970s, China’s economy has experienced a four-decade-long period of high-speed growth. In 2010, it surpassed Japan to become the second-largest economy in the world. IMF statistics recognised that in 2015 it became the largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). Although China lags far behind some developed countries for certain indicators, it ranks first in the world in many dimensions: It is the largest manufacturing economy, the largest source country of the world tourism market and the greatest engine of world economic growth. In recent years, its heavy investment in the high-tech industry has made its competition with the United States fiercer in the eyes of analysts.
Accompanying the rise of its economic status has been the growth of its significance in world affairs. In many cases, how to react to a rising China has become a concern for many countries, especially the established great powers. Observers have interpreted the influence of China’s ascendance on world order in various ways. Under a realist perspective, the economic rise of China coupled with its growing military budget is inevitably interpreted as a potential threat to the existing world order, one that may trigger conflicts (Al-Rodhan 2007 ; Mearsheimer 200