A Critical Discourse Analysis Of American Think Tank’s Discourse On South China Sea

With the implementation of the "One-Belt and One-Road" initiative and especially the 21st century maritime silk-road initiative, the strategic value of South China Sea (SCS) for China has been further enhanced. Therefore, it is of vital significance to maintain our national image and strategic interests in the region as the South China Sea issue grows more complex.Previous research has mainly been conducted to analyze China’s image in the SCS through the perspective of media discourse. Not enough attention has been paid to analyze American think tank’s discourse on SCS. Therefore, this thesis tries to discover how American think tank shapes China’s image in the SCS through its discourse. Taking Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as the theoretical framework, this thesis also seeks to delve into the ideology and power relations hidden behind the discourse.This thesis takes Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) as the representative of US think tank. The text for analysis in this thesis is collected from the official website of CSIS, numbering 26 opinion articles and totaling 58633 words. This thesis endeavors to conduct a critical discourse analysis of CSIS’discourse on SCS mainly through Fairclough’s three dimensions of discourse:textual analysis, discursive practice and social practice. Research questions of this thesis are threefold: What are China’s images in CSIS’discourse on SCS? How does CSIS produce and distribute its discourse on SCS? What are the ideology and power relations hidden in CSIS’ discourse on SCS?In textual analysis, various linguistic tactics employed by CSIS to describe the SCS issue will be analyzed to discover China’s image in CSIS’discourse. In discursive practice, the thesis tries to analyze the textuality of CSIS’discourse as well as the production and distribution of CSIS’discourse on SCS. In sociocultural practice, the thesis will analyze the ideology and power relationship hidden behind the US think tank’s discourse on SCS.After a critical discourse analysis of CSIS’discourse on SCS. the thesis finally endeavors to propose the "counter discourse" strategy that could be employed by China’s think tank to challenge US think tank’s dominant discourse power on the SCS issue.The thesis finds that on the text level, CSIS uses various linguistic tactics such as word choice、overwording、metaphor、patterns of transitivity and text strucutre to construct China’s image as a rising maritime power in SCS, a breaker of strategic balance in SCS, an initiator of conflicts in SCS, a bully in SCS, a non-observor of international norms and a shrewd manipulator in SCS diplomacy.In the production of discourse on SCS, CSIS tactically embedds other source’s discourse on SCS in its own discourse by adding new meaning to the quoted discourse. In the production and distribution of discourse on SCS, CSIS also sets the agenda for the SCS issue and employs various distribution channels to market its discourse on SCS to US congress, the general public, other think tanks and the media, thus achieving the magnifying effect in the distribution of its discourse.In the analysis of ideology and think tank’s discourse, the thesis finds that behind the discourse on SCS lies CSIS’conservative thinking, cold-war mentality and American stance. On the one hand, ideology shapes CSIS’discourse on SCS. On the other hand, CSIS also systematically organizes the discourse on SCS to serve ideology.In the analysis of power relations, the thesis finds that the discourse power among different countries’think tank is unbalanced. An examplar of the combination of knowledge、discourse and power, American think tank occupies a dominant position in discourse power. The discourse power of US think tank is also part of its soft power. American think tank’s leading role in setting the agenda for issues of international and strategic importance is testaments of the institutional power proposed by Joseph Nye in his theory about soft power.