Leiden University Student Repository

De Jong, Jolien (2019)

China's 'Taiwan Problem': The Communist Party and State Media in Cross-Strait Official Discourse

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

In January 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping commemorated the 40th anniversary of the historical 'Message to Compatriots in Taiwan' with a speech that reiterated that Taiwan's sole sovereign government is that of the People's Republic of China and that Taiwan must reunify with China as such. Xi's speech was celebrated in the Chinese state media but heavily criticised in the Taiwanese news. This thesis looks at Chinese official discourse in both official speeches and state-owned newspaper articles and argues the close relationship between the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese state media allows for the unified promotion of the 'one China' principle in order to justify increasingly aggressive cross-strait rhetoric and policy.

China

Official Discourse

State Media

Discourse Analysis

Cross-Strait Relations

Author

De Jong, Jolien

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

East Asia

Supervisors

Nie, Yuxi

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en