Framing Nationalism: The China Dream Discourse in the Context of Hong Kong

• In Event: Framing in the Wild and the Lab

Abstract

Nationalism is re-emerging in the twenty-first century. Donald Trump promised to “make America great again”, the UK left the European Union to “take back control”, and Vladimir Putin started a war against Ukraine in response to the country’s intention to join NATO. This form of nationalism is xenophobic by nature as it clearly distinguishes ‘us’ from ‘others’, while their narratives on past glories are usually political myths derived from debatable historical facts. Another canonical example is Chinese president Xi Jinping’s ‘China Dream’, one that aims to restore China’s confidence and rise to the top of all nation-states. In the era of mis- and disinformation, this paper offers a glimpse of how nationalism, usually built upon political myths, is framed by political elites through state-controlled media and how it impacts public opinion with the case study of China.

In November 2012, Xi announced the China Dream which reflected his vision of what he thought the future of China would be. By Xi’s definition, China Dream is the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”. It is a dream of China prevailing over the ‘century of humiliation’, and a political myth of the country returning to its golden age in history as a leading nation. The China Dream discourse is not only prevalent in mainland China, but is also widely promoted in Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. After the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in October 2022, John Lee, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, encouraged the Hong Kong people to contribute to the national rejuvenation of China. In August 2021 at a National 14th Five-Year Plan conference, Huang Liuquan, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, made it clear that the ‘Hong Kong Dream’ is part of China Dream.

Despite the leaders’ reiteration of national rejuvenation and all the resources that the CCP has put into fostering Chinese nationalism with the China Dream discourse, a public opinion survey has found that the national identity of Hong Kong citizens has been overshadowed by their other identities, including ‘Hong Kong citizen’, ‘Asian’ and ‘global citizen’. The identity of Hong Kong people has changed over the years, but what remains unknown is how much of this is influenced by the China Dream discourse. Although scholars have contributed to understanding China Dream as a broad political agenda, the abovementioned public opinion survey has reflected a gap in the literature: the communication of Chinese nationalism through the China Dream discourse and its impact in the context of Hong Kong. Therefore, this research fills this literature gap by exploring the framing strategies Xi and his government employed in the China Dream discourse, and the impact of the China Dream on Hong Kong citizens’ national identity.

I argue that the China Dream discourse has been distinctively framed along with the country’s historical narrative and political context, which, is mostly incongruent with Hong Kong’s historical and political experience. As successful political framing depends on the context of where the target audiences are situated and the social experiences of the audience, the China Dream discourse is ineffective in shaping the public opinion of Hong Kong citizens on their national identity. I hypothesise that the framing of the China Dream discourse has imposed a limited impact on the national identity of Hong Kong citizens. To explore the framing strategies of the discourse, I employ the method of content analysis to examine approximately 1500 news articles from two CCP-owned news media in Hong Kong, namely, Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao. I also conduct a survey experiment with around 2000 Hong Kong citizens to investigate how the framing of the China Dream discourse shapes the opinion of their national identity.

By and large, this research examines how political elites frame nationalism through state-controlled media and subsequently impact public opinion by studying the China Dream discourse in Hong Kong. Its significance is threefold. First of all, it contributes to the theoretical understanding of ‘national framing’ by incorporating the theories of framing and nationalism. It offers a profound discussion on how nationalist discourses are framed and how they potentially fail to shape public opinion. Secondly, this research contributes to the empirical findings of the framing and impact of the China Dream discourse in Hong Kong. It sheds light on the construction and perception of nationalist discourses from a regional perspective, meanwhile, it enhances the understanding of Beijing-Hong Kong relations from a new lens. Finally, this research illuminates the framing strategies of nationalist discourses, usually built upon political myths, in state-controlled media. It depicts a clearer picture of how political elites manoeuvre nationalism so that it inspires the public to think critically and independently in the era of mis- and disinformation.

Author

• Natalie Lau, The University of Edinburgh