Make Terrorists Like Rats Scurrying across the Streets: Discursive Securitisation of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Xinhua News

According to the Securitization Theory, a threat is a discursive construction that justifies extraordinary measures for the sake of security. Despite being claimed to be universally applicable, the theory has been subject to a large share criticism for being Euro-centric, and thus inapplicable beyond the liberal-democratic context of the 'West'. However, soon after the US launched the 'Global War on Terror' in 2001, the Chinese authorities initiated the so-called China's War on Terror against Muslim Uyghurs; part of this policy was to construct a discourse that classified the Chinese Muslims as an existential threat not only to China, but likewise to the rest of the international community. Through substantial discourse analysis, this thesis provides evidence of how China's main news outlet, Xinhua News, constructs a discourse of the Uyghurs as a threat to justify extraordinary Chinese policies directed at Islamic practices, and simultaneously underlines the argument that the ST is...Show moreAccording to the Securitization Theory, a threat is a discursive construction that justifies extraordinary measures for the sake of security. Despite being claimed to be universally applicable, the theory has been subject to a large share criticism for being Euro-centric, and thus inapplicable beyond the liberal-democratic context of the 'West'. However, soon after the US launched the 'Global War on Terror' in 2001, the Chinese authorities initiated the so-called China's War on Terror against Muslim Uyghurs; part of this policy was to construct a discourse that classified the Chinese Muslims as an existential threat not only to China, but likewise to the rest of the international community. Through substantial discourse analysis, this thesis provides evidence of how China's main news outlet, Xinhua News, constructs a discourse of the Uyghurs as a threat to justify extraordinary Chinese policies directed at Islamic practices, and simultaneously underlines the argument that the ST is universally applicable.Show less

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Make Terrorists Like Rats Scurrying across the Streets: Discursive Securitisation of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Xinhua News