Evaluating the American-Chinese trade war on Chinese social media: discourses of nationalism and rectifying a humiliating past.

The US and China have both benefited greatly from their trading relationship. However, motivated by a US concern that their partner was becoming more of a rival, then-president Donald Trump began a 'trade war' in 2018. In US news outlets and, of particular interest here, on American social media pla...

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Publicado en:Critical Discourse Studies Vol. 22; no. 5; pp. 511 - 531
Autores principales: Bouvier, Gwen, Geng, Qiang, Zhao, Wenting
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Sep2025
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: Evaluating the American-Chinese trade war on Chinese social media: discourses of nationalism and rectifying a humiliating past.
      aug:
        au:
          Bouvier, Gwen
          Geng, Qiang
          Zhao, Wenting
        affil:
          Institute of Corpus Studies and Applications, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
          Institute of Corpus Studies and Applications, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
      su:
        Nationalism
        China-United States relations
        Postcolonialism
        Weibo (Web resource)
        International relations
        Xenophobia
        China
        United States
      sug:
        subj:
          China
          United States
          Nationalism
          China-United States relations
          Postcolonialism
          Weibo (Web resource)
          International relations
          Xenophobia
      keyword:
        Alaska talks
        social media
        trade war
        US–China
        Weibo
      ab: The US and China have both benefited greatly from their trading relationship. However, motivated by a US concern that their partner was becoming more of a rival, then-president Donald Trump began a 'trade war' in 2018. In US news outlets and, of particular interest here, on American social media platforms, China was represented as a global menace, with extreme xenophobia against Chinese people. Yet less is known about how Chinese people responded on social media to the same situation. This paper explores the discourses carried on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, focusing on the 2021 Alaska talks between the US and China, where negotiations took place. As with their US counterparts, Weibo users comment little on actual trade benefits or damages caused by the conflict. We find a strong sense of nationalism, but this is not based on xenophobia; rather on a discourse comparing the talks to similar events early in the twentieth century, where the 'Century of Humiliation' began, and where territories such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Shaoshan were taken by colonial powers. Foregrounded is China's ability now to end this humiliation.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
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    language: English
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