Study On The Construction Of China’s Image By Malaysia’s New Straits Times

With the continuous improvement of our country’s comprehensive national strength and international status,the construction and dissemination of national image has attracted more and more people’s attention.The "Belt and Road" initiative is an important measure to promote the development of the world economy and the common prosperity of all countries in the interconnection.It is hailed as the greatest development initiative of the 21 st century.Since the initiative was put forward,the "Belt and Road" has always been one of the important topics in overseas media coverage of China,and its implementation has provided a rare opportunity for the dissemination of China’s image.Malaysia is one of the first Southeast Asian countries to respond to and join the Belt and Road initiative.In the past three years,China’s non-financial direct investment in the ASEAN countries along the "Belt and Road" has risen from the seventh to the third,and the relationship between China and Malaysia has become increasingly close.Therefore,studying the image of China in the "Belt and Road" reports by mainstream media in Malaysia will not only help us to promote the implementation of the "Belt and Road" initiative in Malaysia by adjusting the way of external communication,but also help improve our country’s international communication capabilities,so as to provide reference for the construction of China’s image in other countries.New Straits Times is the mainstream English-language media in Malaysia and has a stable readership.This paper selects the newspaper’s the "Belt and Road" report samples from 2013 to 2021,uses Zang Guoren’s three-level framework theory,and based on the study of the newspaper’s reports on the "Belt and Road",it analyzes the China’s national image constructed by it from six aspects: economy,politics,society,culture,science and technology and health.The frame of media reporting is the basis for constructing a country’s image.Through research,it is found that the "Belt and Road" reports of New Straits Times mainly construct the image of China’s economy with rapid development and pursuit of win-win cooperation;the image of China’s politics,which is complex and changeable and involved in international affairs;the social image of China that focuses on Xinjiang and outstanding problems;China’s cultural image that focuses on media exchanges and educational cooperation;China’s scientific and technological image that is powerful and beneficial to Malaysia;the health image of China that advocates and implements the concept of a community of shared future.In general,the newspaper constructs an image of China as a "collaborator",but the degree of construction of different images varies.The realistic needs of development,political environment factors,media positioning,and stereotypes are the main reasons for the construction of China’s image in the newspaper’s relevant reports.At the same time,the study also found the following problems in the image of China constructed by the "Belt and Road" reports of New Straits Times: first,the highlighting of the economic and political themes in the media reports made the newspaper focus on the construction of China’s economic and political images,so the construction of China’s image is not comprehensive;secondly,news sources about China are single,and there are few sources of information such as experts and scholars,and media sources,which are not conducive to the accurate presentation of China’s image in other countries’ media;thirdly,some reports construct the national image of China as a "competitor".Therefore,this paper puts forward three suggestions: first,the media should strengthen the ability to actively set topics,combine the "soft communication" at the national image level,and pay attention to the multi-dimensional shaping of China’s image.Secondly,give full play to the role of experts in dispelling doubts in shaping the country’s image,integrate the power of the government and experts,and jointly serve the task of building China’s image in other countries’ media.Finally,with the help of the media’s role in shaping the country’s image,we should strengthen media cooperation and actively grasp the right to speak.