Image Perception And The Making Of U S China Relations

These 15 essays comprise a multidisciplinary evaluation of how mutual perceptions and appearances affect US-China relations. The first section, addressing American perceptions of China, includes discussion of the role of American merchants and businessmen in the making of image in China and the role of the American media in shaping public opinion about China. The second section treats Chinese perceptions of the US, including Chinese students' perceptions of the US and anti- American nationalism in China, among other topics. The five remaining essays address policy matters. Lacks an index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Image, Perception, and the Making of U.S.-China Relations examines major events in the history of the relationship between the U.S. and China to show the development and effects of national images and perceptions. These essays expose the effects of ideology as represented through foreign policy and the actions of leaders, as well as the role of the media and governments in shaping public opinion and attitudes. They show the evolution of the influential forces from the nineteenth century through the twentieth century. In each country, a small group of people has always controlled these forces by manipulating the power of the media and governments. The nature of this situation changed national perceptions as power often moved from one small group to another. As a result of manipulating the images and perceptions of each country, these biased and untrue views have inevitably led to conflict between the two countries.

China and Russia, two giants dominating the Eurasian landmass, share a history of understanding and misunderstanding whose nuances are not well appreciated by outsiders. In his interpretation of this relationship from the Russian point of view, Alexander Lukin shows how over the course of three centuries China has seemed alternately to threaten, mystify, imitate, mirror, and rival its northern neighbor. Lukin traces not only the changing dynamics of Russian-Chinese relations but the ways in which Russia's images of China more profoundly reflected Russia's self-perception and its perceptions of the West as well. As both Russia and China take distinctive approaches to political and economic development and integration in the twenty-first century global economy, this reinterpretation of their relationship is timely and valuable not only to historians but to all students of international affairs.

"China threat" has been one of hotly debated topics since the early 1990s, and this book is an effort to test the China threat thesis. The author argues that a test of the China threat thesis requires addressing two fundamental questions: whether China has the capabilities to challenge the international system and whether China has the motivations to do so. This book will offer a systematic study of China's foreign policy motivations by resorting to an image approach. The conclusion as to whether China is a status quo or a revisionist country will be reached by exploring how consideration of national interests and how China's perceptions of key characters of the U.S. affect China's foreign policy orientation. A summary of the dominant Chinese images of the U.S. will also contribute to understanding China's motivations vis-a-vis the U.S.

The United States and China are arguably the most globally consequential actors of the early twenty first century, and look set to remain so into the foreseeable future. This volume seeks to highlight that American images of China are responsible for constructing certain truths and realities about that country and its people. It also introduces the understanding that these images have always been inextricable from the enactment and justification of US China policies in Washington, and that those policies themselves are active in the production and reproduction of imagery and in the protection of American identity when seemingly threatened by that of China. Demonstrating how past American images of China are vital to understanding the nature and significance of those which circulate today, Turner addresses three key questions: What have been the dominant American images of China and the Chinese across the full lifespan of Sino-US relations? How have historical and contemporary American images of China and the Chinese enabled and justified US China policy? What role does US China policy play in the production and reproduction of American images of China? Exploring and evaluating a wide-ranging variety of sources including films and television programmes, newspaper and magazine articles, the records and journals of politicians and diplomats and governmental documents including speeches and legal declarations this work will be of great interest to students and scholars of US foreign policy, American politics, China studies and international relations.

Chinese leaders have long been fascinated by the US, but have often chosen to demonise America for perceived cultural and military imperialism. Especially under Communist rule, Chinese leaders have crafted and re-crafted portrayals of the US according to the needs of their own agenda and the regime's self-image. Christopher A. Ford investigates what these depictions reveal about internal Chinese politics and Beijing's ambitions in the world today.

Sino-US relation that has great influence on international relations is considered as the most important bilateral relation in the world today by politicians and scholars from both of the two countries. The development of Sino-US relation has undergone twists and turns since the two countries established diplomatic relation. Although China and America has developed cooperative relationship in various areas, critical events resulted from conflicts happen from time to time. Media that plays various roles including message transmitter, public opinion shaper and problem solver during the two countries’ crisis is not only an important information channel for both the government and the people to learn about the crisis quickly, but also undertakes certain diplomatic duties like indicating attitude, explaining policy and setting agenda. This book is an analysis of the features and laws of media coverage on critical events between China and America, discussing their influence on public opinion of American people as well as the decision-making progress of American government by study the related reports of New York Times since 1990. This book takes some China-US crisis as study cases and the related reports in New York Times as researching sample, analyzing the quantity, length, type, information source, inclination towards China and news frame of the reports, discussing the features and laws of media coverage on crises between China and America. The ultimate purpose is to figure out the role and function of media during the decision-making process of America’s China policy and to conclude the inspiration for both countries’ diplomacy and international communication.

An exploration of the role of the news media in the development of EU-China relations after the end of the Cold War, this book provides empirical evidence to support what Nye and Anholt have argued: that branding a country's image is soft power. The author examines the nature of European Union and China coverage in Chinese and European news media respectively and explores how the economics, politics, and journalistic practice interplay in shaping the coverage. Based on this analysis, the author delves into the relationship between the news media and their foreign policy toward each other in terms of both the general direction of policy-making and the policy in a specific issue area. Including not only content analysis of media coverage, but also has first-hand interview materials with the officials involved in the decision-making process and the journalists involved in reporting the EU and China, the book sheds light on the way in which the media construct the post-Cold War world and therefore play a role in transforming international relations.