Framing The United States And China: A Study Of Reporting By State-owned And Independent English-language Dailies In Myanmar And Implications For China

Since it came into power in 2011, the Myanmarese government has adjusted its foreign policy while conducting a democratic reform inside Myanmar. The suspension of the Myitsone project and continuous protests against Chinese-backed projects shadow Sino-Myanmar relations in contrast to the improvement of US-Myanmar relations. Research into the image of the United States contrasted with that of China projected on the same newspaper will be helpful to understand the ways in which the United States is represented by the media in Myanmar and the reasons for that representation. Meanwhile, by comparison, we can also learn why China's national image is so portrayed in recent years and help us to find ways to improve China's image.Under such context, the paper, by using content analysis and textual analysis, studies the images of China and the United States framed by GNLM and Myanmar Eleven. The study indicates that the United States enjoys a relatively more positive image in Myanmar newspaper while China has a more negative image in the reports on economy, environment, domestic politics and crime in Myanmar.Myanmar's foreign policy has a bearing on national images of the two countries in the state-owned newspaper since any change in government's mouthpiece can cause diplomatic conflicts. Therefore, the state-owned newspaper inclines to cover positive reports of the two countries. Besides Myanmar's foreign policy, Chinese and American activities in Myanmar, media freedom and newspaper position are also factors resulting in such representation of China and the United States. To be specific, Myanmar newspapers frame the national images through headline writing, the source of information and word selection.The study has presented findings on the framing of China and the United States by Myanmar newspapers, making its own contribution.