The Us Perception Of China And Suggestions On China's Future Choice

The irreversible trend of financial downturn has generated enormous impact on both developed and developing countries including the US and China. Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the US in early 2009. In face of great changes, China-US relationship, which is full of twists and turns throughout history, has been put to a new test. Leading newspapers and magazines, including media from the US side, provide a daily reminder of China's existence in 2009.This thesis presents a comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analysis on the basis of the most updated news coverage on the New York Times website in 2009. The perception from the US side and the real situation in China will be carefully observed and compared. Perception and misperception will be analyzed in five aspects of general image, economy, politics, culture, environment and technology, as well as diplomacy, military and China's role in international organizations. On the one hand, the US recognizes China's rise as one of the significant global players. On the other hand, the US is concerned about China's increasing influence and tends to either obliterate or exaggerate these issues, which is likely to result in misperception and misunderstanding.The research is not only of great significance to understand the views of the American people and their mainstream media towards China, but also can help improve the communication skills of China so as to build up a better national image. The paper endeavors to work out feasible solutions to help China understand how other countries perceive it and how China properly evaluates its capacity. Suggestions on China's future choice are proposed in the paper in four aspects, that is, accurate perceptions, appropriate evaluation, clear communication and pragmatic approach.