In China’s far northwestern region of Xinjiang, the Chinese government and the Muslim Uyghurs are entangled in a conflict that has seen a rise in violence in the last two decades. The pinnacle of...Show moreIn China’s far northwestern region of Xinjiang, the Chinese government and the Muslim Uyghurs are entangled in a conflict that has seen a rise in violence in the last two decades. The pinnacle of this violence were the Urumqi riots, a violent outburst between Uyghurs and Han Chinese during which 197 lost their lives. This thesis researches how the state controlled news agency Xinhua has covered the conflict before and after the Urumqi riots by analysing English language news articles on the conflict and analysing discrepancies by utilizing a ‘discourse analysis’. The results of the research show that Xinhua has taken a more delicate approach to referring to the Uyghur conflict but the underlying focus of ‘cracking down’ on expressions of resistance remain in news coverage on the conflict.Show less
