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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Article
Author(s)
CHEN Zhixin
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DOI:10.17265/2328-2134/2018.08.002
Affiliation(s)
Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China
ABSTRACT
China’s rise has stirred up
world-wide debate. In Australia, China has been one of the keywords in its
foreign and strategic policies and on news media. Its rise intensifies the dual
functions―benefit provider and security offender to Australia and the tensions
between greed of economic gains and fear of China’s increasing geopolitical
strength and influence. The “fear and greed” narration is well-presented on
Australian mainstream media. Such ambivalence
can also find its expressions in the recent typical case of China’s rise―the
Belt and Road Initiative. It is worthwhile to find out how Australia’s
ambivalence to BRI and China’s rise is represented on media and to draw the
sociopolitical inferences behind “fear and greed”. The thesis is going to take
BRI as a typical example of China’s rise to examine the ambivalent “fear and
greed” narration on Australian mainstream news media. Data sample includes news
reports of BRI from ABC News, The Australian, The Australian Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The
Age from September 1st, 2013 to October 31st, 2017. The discourse analysis on China’s images finds that
Australia is rather biased against China, regarding China
both as a lucrative friend and a threatening enemy. The bias lingers on for
centuries and generates misunderstanding, mistrust, and anxiety. Profit drives
Australia to establish closer economic ties with China, while value differences
would not allow too much proximity but help to maintain a robust alliance with
its allies. Australia’s position between its major economic partner and
traditional allies has caused much concern and will have a long-term influence
on its policy-making decisions.
KEYWORDS
China’s rise, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), fear and greed
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