Bilateral relations between the United States and China have increasingly soured since President Donald Trump assumed office in 2017. A key reason is that China’s growing power has made it a threat...Show moreBilateral relations between the United States and China have increasingly soured since President Donald Trump assumed office in 2017. A key reason is that China’s growing power has made it a threat to U.S. hegemony and the U.S. is more proactively seeking to contain China than ever before. While China’s threat can be examined from various theoretical angles, such as realism, few studies have looked at it from the perspective of the U.S. media. This is an important avenue for research as perceptions influence international relations and the media plays an important role in shaping such perceptions. Conversely, the media reflects tendencies in politics and society. Using content analysis, the portrayal of the China threat in the news coverage of the Wall Street Journal is examined between 2016 and 2018. The debate on the China threat has mostly consisted of three categories, namely military, economic, and political. The thesis adds a new category to be used in content analysis, namely world order.Show less
