The New York Times(1980-2016) Reports And Image Construction On China's Aid To Africa

Foreign aid is one of the important means of diplomacy and is the embodiment of national comprehensive strength.China's aid to Africa can be traced back to the 1950s and is an important part of China-Africa diplomatic relations.However,China's aid to Africa has been questioned by foreign public opinions from the very outset.In this context,by studying the China's image concerning to its aid to Africa through the reports of western media,we could understand what specific public opinion challenges China is facing during its aid activities in Africa.This paper consists of seven parts.The first part introduces the background and significance of the topic and briefly reviews the history of China's aid to Africa.The second part is literature review,combing two important concepts as "national image"and "foreign aid",reviewing the previous related studies home and abroad,introducing the theoretical framework involved in the article.The third part introduces the selection process of the research articles and the specific analysis categories.The fourth and fifth parts of the study summarizes the characteristic changes of reports and China's image in these articles.In the sixth part,the author explores the advantages and disadvantages of China's public opinion work on this issue and provides suggestions for better carrying out aid activities in Africa.The seventh part is the summary and limitation part,summarizing the whole thesis.This article uses the content analysis method to analyze a total of 99 articles on China's aid to Africa from the New York Times during 1980 to 2016.Analyzing 4 categories as the amount of reports,reporting genre,length and layout of coverage from the form aspect.From the content aspect analyzes 7 categories as the way of aid,motivation of aid,aid results,competitors of aid,angle of coverage,reporting tone,news sources.The study found that political color gradually faded,the economic color continues to strengthen in The New York Times reports on this issue;the Western countries led by the United States turned from bystanders to competitors gradually on this issue;all the reports have shaped China as "Diplomatic competitor","Human rights trampler" and "Resources predator" but also recognized China's development as beneficial to all and praised its medical assistance to Africa.The Chinese government should enrich aid modalities,participate in multilateral cooperative aid programs,handle "sensitive events" with caution and timely release follow-up information on aid projects.Previous studies mainly focused on China's aid policy and mechanism for from the perspective of international relations or public management.The purpose of this paper is to clarify the specific public opinion challenges China is facing on this issue so as to find the way to get rid of the plight of public opinion,maximizing the benefits of aiding Africa and improving Chinese government's credibility and international influence.