How The Country Image Is Possible

Derogatory metaphors for China such as "the Yellow Peril","the sick man of Asia" and "the sleeping lion" gradually faded out after the1990s. However, the "China threat theory" has now emerged as a new emblem of the mythological discourse about China’s image. The image of China as a threat has undergone a complex intercultural communication process from its early beginnings as a mantra used by a few Japanese and American intellectuals, politicians and economists to its current domination of discourse across different regions, different languages and different civilizations.At the same time, ordinary Chinese and Chinese in political, economic and intellectual circles are now frequently using this derogatory mantra to describe China’s national image and its relationship with other countries. Indisputably,"the China threat theory" has become a "hegemonic" discourse with essentialist undertones. The emergence of this mantra not only influences how other countries perceive China, but also influences how China sees both itself and other countries.In order for China to rationally understand itself and other countries, it is therefore crucial to unravel the myth of "the China threat theory" and to map out its development trajectory, and, in doing so, reveal its underlying production mechanism from a new historical perspective.In this regard, this study focuses on the following issues:1. How did the image of China as a threat come into being and how has it been presented? What is the underlying production mechanism of this theory?2. How does the image of China as a threat influence both China and other countries’ imagination of China?3. What role do contemporary news media play in the production of "the China threat theory"? And how do they play this role?Through studying the historical development of "the China threat theory", I found that China’s image since the1990s was not imposed upon China by the West, but was a product of the interaction between China and the West. Of course, it doesn’t mean there is no people really with hatred of China on the foreign lands; actually, there are indeed a small bunch of people abroad making clamor of "China Threat Theory" with some special intention all the time.I also discovered that there is no unified image of China as a threat in intellectual, media, political and economic circles domestically and abroad. The different images that foreign countries have of China as a threat reflect their own individual imaginations. On the other hand, the different images of China as a threat that I discovered in different Chinese texts are not the same images that are seen in the West. Rather, different interest groups in China are, to a large extent, appropriating these images and reconstructing them. This process of appropriation and reconstruction shows not only the tension between the West and China, but also the contestation between them.However, the involvement of the media has changed this process and blocked the spatial diversity and dynamism of China’s image. As a result, the media’s portrayal of China tends to be reductionist and essentialist, leading to the hegemonic "China as a threat" discourse. Media selection mechanisms, national interests and the construction of national identity have all played a role in this process.