"Manila Times"'s Construction Of China's National Image

It is a common way for many countries to build the image of other countries in the hearts of his own people through the media,which is one of the main ways for the people to understand the image of other countries.The main research question in this article is that during the “South China Sea Arbitration Case”,the mainstream media in the Philippines presented to the domestic audience the Chinese national image,what kind of communication strategies were used.This article selects the “Manila Times” as the representative of mainstream media in the Philippines.The research in this article is based on reports of Manila Times official website manilatimes.net during the South China Sea Arbitration Case.Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of these reports,it was learned that during the “South China Sea Arbitration Case”,the number of reports to China increased compared with other time periods.From the perspective of the issue,it focuses on reporting on China’s activities in the South China Sea.From the perspective of the attitude of the report,the “Manila Times” with an objective neutrality as its reporting attitude accounts for a large proportion of negative reports on China in the report,and there are few positive reports.In negative reports,China’s image in the South China Sea was again modeled as an outrageous "invader",an "unreasonable person" who does not abide by international law,and a "greedy person" who uses strong bullying.However,these reports shape Philippine as a bullied "victim",a reflexive "weak" and a person who uses the power to defend "sovereignty." From the perspective of reporting strategy,the "noise strategy" and "metaphor strategy" are mainly used to distort and stigmatize China’s behavior in the South China Sea.Aiming at the false image constructed by the “Manila Times” of the Philippines in China’s involvement with the South China Sea.This article believes that this aspect can be stigmatized by the Philippines in order to safeguard its national interests.To this end,China should raise its vigilance to better safeguard China’s image on the South China Sea issue.