Research On The Construction Of China's National Identity In The News Of "Sino-U.S. Trade Friction"

Double pressure of China's domestic transformation and external economic situation has come,as the trade friction between China and the United States in 2018 broken out.People's Daily,as the newspaper of the communist party of China,is the embodiment of the will of the state,and its discourse constructs Chinese national identity.Through discourse analysis,the latest changes and future development of international relations can be revealed.Therefore,this paper examines the relevant reports of "sino-us trade friction" in People's Daily from March 2018 to March 2019.This study uses van Dijk's "discourse-cognition-society" three-dimensional analytical framework in the field of media discourse analysis to analyze the identity and self-development positioning of China in the interactions of Sino-U.S.Trade Frictions.Specifically,the study addresses the following three questions:1)Which news participants are involved in the reports of People's Daily on " Sino-U.S.Trade Frictions" ? 2)As the embodiment of the will of the state,what kind of national identity and role positioning has the People's Daily mainly constructed? 3)What are the main factors influencing the national identity constructed?At the level of discourse analysis,after we generate concordance hits by searching “China” as the key word,the main types of identities of China in the report of " Sino-U.S.Trade Frictions" are identified.Those identities are "forced" reasonable and legal counterattack,"rule-abiding",interlocutor(the role identity in the interaction between China and the United States);defenders of international rules,proponents of necessary wto reforms,stabilizers of the world economy(China's collective identity among WTO);And China's internal and external identity in response to trade frictions(China's "group self" identity).From the perspective of the factor of ideological,it is found that the intermediary between identity discourse and society is the cognitive structure,and ideological cognition is one of the important factors affecting the construction of Chinese identity.In the stage of trade war confrontation,People's Daily gave more positive self-descriptions to China and negative "others" construction to the United States.The strategy of "ideological phalanx" found by van Dijk found was reflected in the discourse representation of national identity.From the perspective of social analysis,this paper examines the influence of social context,historical factors and the situation of Sino-U.S.international relations on the discourse construction of Chinese identity,as well as the construction effect of discourse on social reality.On the one hand,influenced by the economic and trade situation between China and the United States,the discourse of Chinese identity constructed by People's Daily shows the changing characteristics of pragmatism and openness in the later stage,and the activation and selection of identity types are different under the influence of context changes.On the other hand,the identity constructed by discourse influences social practice in turn through the coordination of social cognition,which is reflected in policy practice.In conclusion,China has chosen its own position and development path as follows in facing Sino-U.S.Trade Frictions: we should respond to USA with reason,restraintly and strengthly,and maintain free trade and economic globalization.In the face of economic and trade differences between the two countries,the two sides have always adhered to the basic position of resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation and negotiated on the basis of mutual benefit and equality.Guided by the vision of a community of Shared future for mankind,China will continue to lead multilateralism,deepen institutional reform and opening up,and participate actively in international affairs and integrate itself into international rules.