The rise of Chine: media perception and implications for international politics - Article Example

Download file to see previous pages... Zhang read the most influential newspapers among European elites and found out that economic aspect of Chinese behavior gains the most attention from European media (p. 241). In this respect, not only the range of topics but also the frequency of appearance in media is important for decision-makers. The practical illustration of media influence is visible in EU-China relations, because EU officials change their behavior according to the media image of China in European newspapers.
In the article, it is an interesting idea that media uses ‘map-making’ in order to shape the perception of China among the population in other countries. In my opinion, the potential of this tool in not appropriately acknowledged by Chinese government. In particular, Chinese people do not recognize the potential of foreign media in changing national brand of this country in the world. If not to consider the power of attractiveness in current global politics, it is easy to lose reputation and trust from the other actors in future relations. In this context, the article illustratively shows that China firstly appeared in European media after the loud protest on Tiananmen Square (p. 243). In other words, internal non-democratic political situation in China became the trigger for its ambiguous popularity in democratic world. Therefore, contemporary informational era demonstrates that it is impossible to cover domestic political problems, because globalization includes all of them in international agenda.
For future research, the article does not discuss the impact of Hong Kong issue on the reputation of China in Europe. On the one hand, there is a probability that numerous protests in Special Administrative District did not have any influence on China’s image in international relations. On another hand, even recent protests in Hong Kong found their place in foreign ...Download file to see next pagesRead More