Heroes in Harm’s Way (original) (raw)
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Made in China Journal, 2021
hile the rest of the world is still battling the latest wave of COVID-19 and implementing lockdown measures to combat the spread of the virus, China has been celebrating its 'victory' over the pandemic since the end of February 2020, with Xinhua (2020) announcing a book praising the country's success in disease control to be published in six languages. Compared with the initial crisis being described as China's 'Chernobyl moment' (Shih 2020), at a time when criticism from ordinary citizens abounded, the current discursive space in China appears to be
Gendering National Sacrifices: The Making of New Heroines in China's Counter-COVID-19 TV Series
Communication, Culture & Critique, 2022
From February 2020 to the end of 2021, China's state-controlled media focused on creating its "victorious" narrative of combating the COVID-19 pandemic. This article focuses on two high-profile and COVID-19-themed TV series that aim to rewrite the collective memories of the Wuhan lockdown as part of state's affective governance strategies. Using a feminist textual analysis, the article examines the gendered nature of state narratives by dissecting the representation of national heroines of the pandemic. It demonstrates the centrality of heterosexual families and gender performances in romanticizing individual sacrifices and mass suffering. Unlike the socialist-era role models, the personal weakness and emotional flaws of China's new heroines are tactically displayed to enhance emotional authenticity and resonate with contemporary audiences. Yet these state narratives reflect only stereotypical depictions of femininity within a hierarchical gender order in post-reform China, where moralized womanhood is imbued with a sacrificial attitude that serves to discipline China's female citizens.
'Telling China's Story Well' as propaganda campaign slogan: International, domestic and the pandemic
Media, Culture & Society, 2024
The article critically examines 'Telling China's Story Well' (TCSW), a popular propaganda campaign slogan proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. Drawing on theories about storytelling and propaganda and using the COVID-19 as a contextualised example, the paper discusses how the slogan was adapted into 'Telling China's Anti-pandemic Story Well' to mobilise domestic and external propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the pandemic. We argue that TCSW should be understood as a well-crafted political watchword which promotes and commands strategic narratives of doing propaganda. It has the rhetorical power to integrate and reinvigorate domestic and external propaganda, and to facilitate their convergence. Adapting this slogan to mobilise propaganda campaigns of national or global importance and interest demonstrates the CCP's ambition to harness strategic storytelling to improve the coherence, effectiveness and reputation of its propaganda at home and abroad.
The politics of care during COVID-19: The visibility of anti-virus measures in Wuhan
China Information, 2021
This article employs the concept of care as a lens through which to examine the anti-COVID-19 measures taken in post-lockdown Wuhan. Based on photographs that depict the Chinese response to COVID-19 at the epicentre of the virus outbreak, the article analyses the visibility of anti-virus measures as a form of government communication inscribed textually and symbolically onto the urban landscape. The state demonstrates its care and capability by implementing highly visible high-tech measures to contain the virus. Bringing care into the literature on crisis management in China sheds light on the Chinese state’s reaction to COVID-19 in eliciting nationalist sentiments and positive feelings of cooperation while stigmatizing critical voices as uncooperative and unpatriotic. It shows that care is central not only to the functioning of liberal democracies: the Chinese state also relies on narratives about care to showcase the superiority of its political system and to distinguish between d...
China, the United States, and Coronavirus Narratives
The Public Diplomacy Blog, 2020
Examines the war of words (through March, 2020) between China and the United States over the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. The crisis has more than medical and economic dimensions. It has given rise to what some are calling a "propaganda battle."
The limitations of strategic narratives: The Sino-American struggle over the meaning of COVID-19
Contemporary Security Policy, 2021
Recent research has explored how the Sino-American narrative struggle around COVID-19 might affect power shift dynamics and world order. An underlying assumption is that states craft strategic narratives in attempts to gain international support for their understandings of reality. This article evaluates such claims taking a mixed-methods approach. It analyzes American and Chinese strategic narratives about the pandemic, and their global diffusion and resonance in regional states that are important to the U.S.-led world order: Australia, India, South Korea, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. While the article confirms that strategic narratives remain a highly popular policy instrument, it argues that their efficacy appears limited. Overall, the five states in question either ignored the Sino-American narrative power battle by disseminating their own strategic narratives, or they engaged in "narrative hedging." Moreover, even China's narrative entrepreneurship was enabled and constrained by pre-existing master narratives integral to the current U.S.led world order.
CHINA AND THE WESTERN WORLD IN PANDEMIC ERA – A CONTEMPORARY ANALYSIS
IKSAD Publications, 2022
The rapid and deadly spread of the coronavirus has created chaos worldwide. It has already led to more than 14 million confirmed cases of sickness and more than 600,000 lives. Since the great depression, it has caused the most severe economic recession globally, connecting massive unemployment and bankruptcies. The situation is panicky and will panic due to insufficient cure or vaccine. Pandemic damages are traumatic and sorrowful and will be comparatively short-lived. Society will be influenced by its long-term consequences. China's international relations in contemporary global scenarios, particularly with the western world, are one of these long-term consequences. As an emerging economy whose rise has been a central focus of international attraction or nervousness since the last 20th century, China has been a significant character in explaining the current pandemic scenario. Regarding information, the first sign of the problem came at the end of 2019, when a group of pneumonia cases arose in Wuhan Chinese city. The first reaction was to hide the news. Still, when it became clear the problem was severe and deteriorating, Beijing took the extreme degree of locking down the city of Wuhan with its estimated 11 million inhabitants. But the virus was already spreading to other parts of the world. The article's objective is to focus on China's current relations with Western countries in the context of the COVID-19-pandemic and its significance. The paper aims to realize China's position in the post-COVID world. The methodology has been conducted through documentary analysis. The feature question is, what are the options for stabilizing international relations in the context of China and the western world?
The Politics of Blaming: the Narrative Battle between China and the US over COVID-19
Journal of Chinese Political Science
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are witnessing a surge of nationalism throughout an ostensibly globalized world. In this article, we focus on the "narrative battle" over COVID-19 that has escalated between two competing major powers-China and the US. Guided by a cultural sociological approach, we reveal the meaning-making processes behind the narrative battle through in-depth, hermeneutical reconstruction of the "reactive performance" of each country, as articulated in political speeches and mass media. We point out that, in the Chinese narrative, the country emerges from a "century of humiliation," becoming a major world power that will no longer be subject to the "bullying" of the West. In the US narrative, even though Trump initially highlights the country's "very good" relationship with China, as the storyline unfolds, China is blamed for the global pandemic, assuming again the role of a dangerous actor on the world stage. Our research shows that the current reactive communicative mechanism is not only unsustainable, but also dangerous in times of crisis. We suggest that recognition of the narrative battle and acknowledgement of its performative function in the public sphere is the first step toward mutual understanding and meaningful dialogue between these two world powers. Keywords Sino-US relations. Narrative battle. Nationalism. Cultural sociology. COVID-19 "Distress rejuvenates a nation" (多难兴邦). Wen Jiabao (2008, quoted in [45]). Arguably, the COVID-19 pandemic is not only the "inevitable result" of globalization but may also threaten globalization as we know it [50]. As is typical in times of crisis, we are witnessing a surge of nationalism throughout an ostensibly globalized world. Nation states are retreating into a self-protective mode; yet, at the same time,
IJASS JOURNAL, 2023
This research addresses the stigmatization and xenophobia faced by the Chinese population during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly focusing on Chinese graduate students unable to pursue international studies at St. Paul University Manila College of Education due to travel restrictions. It investigates their experiences to foster human connections and combat racism, discrimination, and hate. A phenomenological study was conducted, exploring the mental frameworks that shaped Chinese graduate students' perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nine participants from various regions of China engaged in online reflection activities. Data from their responses to the question, "What have been your personal encounters with the COVID-19 pandemic in China?" were subjected to phenomenological thematic analysis, unveiling the subtleties and facets of their experiences. Three major themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Experiencing what can and could not be done, encompassing health-related empowerment, general agency, and institutional interventions; (2) Disturbing changes at micro, meso, and macro levels, affecting personal lives, community dynamics, and policies; (3) Emotional shifts, including discomfort, relief, and physical struggles. The overarching finding was that powerlessness overshadowed physical pain, indicating that the pandemic posed an existential challenge rather than just a health crisis for participants. Their experiences were multi-layered and multi-dimensional, reflecting the complexity of human experiences during the pandemic. The research highlights the significance of power and powerlessness in the participants' narratives, demonstrating that their experiences were more about struggling with a loss of agency than dealing with physical pain. It underscores the existential nature of the pandemic for them, emphasizing the importance of being able to make a positive impact despite the threat of COVID-19. The study offers a model illustrating the multi-layered and multi-dimensional aspects of the participants' pandemic experiences, shedding light on the complexity of human responses to such crises.