Framing China:an Analysis Of How Italian Think Tanks Presented China In The Context Of The Memorandum Of Understanding(2018-2019)

In March 2019,Italy and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding in support of China’s Belt and Road Initiative,an event that marked a turning point in the relations between Italy and China and sparked widespread debates within the political sphere and the public opinion.Recognizing the need to further explore the perception of China in Italy and taking into account the opinion-influencing production of the major Italian think tanks that deal with China(IAI,ISPI,T.wai),the present study aims to examine how Italian think tanks framed the People’s Republic of China encompassing the Memorandum of Understanding,from September 2018 to December 2019.While this analysis does not provide with the general perception of China in Italy,the conducted qualitative content analysis instead is able to give an insight into the perception of China in the expert public discourse in Italy.A total number of three frames(China as a partner,as a global power and as a threat)emerged from the study.Overall,the findings showed a similarity between the production of the three think tanks,with minor divergences.