Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
2-2019
Abstract
Winston Churchill once said, ‘it is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war.’ However, negotiations are particularly difficult when they are enmeshed in public opinion precommitments. The sharpest crisis between China and Vietnam in the last 30 years concerned the placement of a Chinese oil rig into contested waters in 2014. This study analyses the Chinese and Vietnamese propaganda efforts surrounding the crisis as examples of the instrumental use of propaganda in managing domestic public opinion on diplomatic crises. The article argues that despite very different approaches to public diplomacy during the crisis, both states were primarily concerned with avoiding escalation and ending the confrontation. The authors show how propaganda function as a pacifying device in dealing with rising domestic nationalism when executing a moderate foreign policy.
Keywords
media, territorial dispute, public opinion, China, Vietnam, nationalism
Discipline
Asian Studies | Political Science
Research Areas
Political Science
Publication
Journal of Contemporary China
Volume
28
Issue
119
First Page
712
Last Page
728
ISSN
1067-0564
Identifier
10.1080/10670564.2019.1580429
Publisher
Taylor & Francis (Routledge): SSH Titles
Citation
WANG, Frances Yaping, & WOMACK, Brantly.(2019). Jawing through crises: Chinese and Vietnamese media strategies in the South China Sea. Journal of Contemporary China, 28(119), 712-728.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3075
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2019.1580429