{"title":"Twitter Diplomacy and China's Strategic Narrative during the Early COVID-19 Crisis","authors":"Weiqing Song, Yinyan Ruan, Sibei Sun","doi":"10.1353/apr.2023.a912750","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This article examines Chinese diplomats' use of Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Although Twitter is blocked in China, Chinese officials use the platform to experiment with new public diplomacy channels and directly communicate with foreign audiences. We argue that China's utilization of Twitter in 2020 functioned as a crisis management and public relations tool and as a mechanism for disseminating a strategic narrative (SN) that articulated foreign policy priorities. To illustrate this, we apply a qualitative content analysis to a selection of tweets from two China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokespersons and divided into three stages. In each stage, distinct narrative themes emerge and construct a cohesive SN across three dimensions: issues, role identity, and the international system. This study reveals that China's public diplomacy apparatus effectively reaches global audiences with well-structured narratives but also that this effectiveness remains very limited.","PeriodicalId":45424,"journal":{"name":"Asian Perspective","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Asian Perspective","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/apr.2023.a912750","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract:This article examines Chinese diplomats' use of Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Although Twitter is blocked in China, Chinese officials use the platform to experiment with new public diplomacy channels and directly communicate with foreign audiences. We argue that China's utilization of Twitter in 2020 functioned as a crisis management and public relations tool and as a mechanism for disseminating a strategic narrative (SN) that articulated foreign policy priorities. To illustrate this, we apply a qualitative content analysis to a selection of tweets from two China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokespersons and divided into three stages. In each stage, distinct narrative themes emerge and construct a cohesive SN across three dimensions: issues, role identity, and the international system. This study reveals that China's public diplomacy apparatus effectively reaches global audiences with well-structured narratives but also that this effectiveness remains very limited.
期刊介绍：
ASIAN PERSPECTIVE is the peer-reviewed social sciences journal of world/comparative politics of the Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Kyungnam University. Published quarterly, Asian Perspective has devoted its pages to critical analysis of the global, regional, and transnational issues affecting Northeast Asia for over 25 years. Bringing cogent, thought-provoking examination of the significant developments in Asia and the world as they unfold to the scrutiny of its readership, Asian Perspective continues to promote a healthy exchange of ideas among scholars, students, and policymakers.
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