Comparative Study of Nationalistic Rhetoric in Chinese State Media: U.S.- China Trade War vs Huawei CFO Arrest

This research project would like to address the common state challenges in handling nationalistic sentiments under the context of the U.S.-China trade war. The main topic of interest lies in inspecting whether the government uses its monopoly over the media to sway Chinese popular opinion and hence fuel nationalism in the form of anti-American sentiments. Looking predominately at relevant publications by party-owned media during a selected period of the trade war, the thesis shall decipher key messages communicated to its readership as well as the particular use of tone and language in official discourse. Analysis of domestic media will furthermore encompass both Chinese and English language publications with the purpose of seeing whether there are any major inconsistencies when speaking to separate audiences. Lastly, coverage of the contentious Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou arrest will be used as a point of comparison against general commentary of the trade war, without which one cannot quantity the intensity of nationalistic discourse.

The key research question becomes: How does the Chinese government seek to portray itself and regulate nationalism under the context of the U.S.-China trade war through its own media outlet and censorship tactics, and did the controversial Huawei incident change CCP strategies in governing public sentiments?