The Representation of China Through Western Media: Misconstruction of Culture 西方媒體再現的中國：文化的誤解

A Thesis

Presented to

The Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation

National Taiwan Normal University

In Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts

Advisee:

廬斌 Vadim Rubin

Advisor:

李根芳 Ken-fang Lee

September 2020

Taipei, Taiwan 1

Table of Contents Abstract ...... 2 摘要 ...... 3 Chapter One: Introduction...... 4 Chapter Two: Theory, Literature Review, and Purpose ...... 12 Theories ...... 12 Literature Review ...... 19 Purpose and Importance ...... 25 Research Methods ...... 30 Chapter Three: China’s History and Western Media Perspectives ...... 34 Chapter Four: Manipulated in Translation ...... 51 Pre- and Early 2018 Media Depictions...... 53 Late-2018 to Mid-2020 Media Depictions ...... 65 Chapter Five: Conclusion ...... 82 Works Cited ...... 88

2

Abstract

This research examines the impact translation plays within Western news media sources in the formation of perspective, specifically the perception of China and Chinese culture. For the past century, as the English language has become the dominant form of global communication, as American culture – since the end of World War I – continues to tactfully weave its way through the fabric of global cultures, we are now seeing a resurgence of what Edward Said famously coined in his 1978 publication as ‘Orientalism’: the habitual condescending attitude of Western countries toward Asian, Middle Eastern, and North African societies and cultures. The United States and United Kingdom created a historic precedent during the late 19th century and early 20th century of forcing China into a periphery position – into the subject of ‘Other’ for the purpose of exploitation. Jumping forward to present day in which China has become one of the largest economies in the world, we see difficulty in Western countries to cope with a once second world nation rising to power. The use of media during these times aids in the creation of a China which solely serves the interests of Western countries. The former part of this thesis will provide the reader with the historical precedent in which Western countries have demonized China. The latter portion of the essay will examine English and Chinese information circulated amongst the variety of 21st century media sources concerning events that have transpired from late 2018 to present day, including: US-China Trade War, Hong Kong extradition bill, and the voracious COVID – 19 pandemic.

Keywords: cultural representation, cultural turn, cultural translation, translation, news translation, China US relations, US China trade war

3

摘要

本研究試圖檢視西方新聞媒體的報導影響了西方社會對中華文化的印象及想法，從

而間接造成西方社會對華人文化的誤解。從十九世紀以來，英語逐漸的變成了世界的主流

語言。一次世界大戰后，美國主流文化漸漸地開始入侵蔓延至全球文化的各個角落。透過

愛德華·薩伊德於 1978 年出版的⟨⟨東方主義⟩⟩，我們可以看到在十九世紀至二十世紀之

間，英美兩國開了先例，為了剝削中國，基於政治及利益上的考量，透過打壓、邊緣化，

在翻譯與再現中國的形象時，往往刻意使中國成爲西方社會眼裡的「他者」。現今，中國

大陸已然變成世界最大的經濟體之一，但西方社會仍無法接受這個曾經第二世界國家的崛

起，因此西方的新聞媒體會有意無意地挑選負面消息做爲新聞報導。本文一開始會以歷史

角度切入，透過追溯歷史，讓讀者瞭解到西方世界對中華文化偏見的起源。此後本文會藉

由 2018 年發生的中美貿易戰以及近日發生的新型冠狀病毒全球大流行來探討中英媒體資

源對此的報導立場。

關鍵詞：文化再現、文化轉向、文化翻譯、翻譯、新聞翻譯、中美關係、中美貿易戰

4

Chapter One: Introduction

The past three decades have seen a paradigm shift in the direction of translation studies.

The largest shift most relevant to this research being the ‘the cultural turn.’ Coined in 1990 by

Mary Snell-Hornby, the term then evolved within Susan Bassnett and Andre Lefevere’s collection, Translation, History and Culture. Translation in this era began to move away from strict text translation to translation in relation to culture and politics. Within this context, translation concerns itself with intended audiences and tightly binds the intended culture to the target text.

Closely tied to the ‘cultural turn,’ postcolonial translation theory begins to arise.

Postcolonial translation theory incorporates the tactics of dominantly Western countries as they forcefully instilled their own cultures and languages on colonized societies. While the U.K. and the U.S., among many other countries, spent innumerable amounts of energy spreading their ideology via colonial expansion throughout the globe during the 20th century, this essay will focus on the way in which Western powers have come to use translation and representation to pervert views of Eastern countries – specifically, China, and subsequently, Chinese culture.

Over this century the world has undergone vast changes: whether political, technological, cultural, or ideological. America fell headfirst into a war with the middle east after 911; the first iPhone was released in 2008 (only 12 years ago!); China held its first Olympics in 2008; the UK passed a vote to leave the EU and, around the same time, Donald Trump was voted in as the president of the United States of America. While these events have changed the course of history as we know it, one of the biggest geopolitical and ideological changes in the past two decades has been the shift of power from West to East and the re-ascension of China as a major world 5 power. I say re-ascension because, as Kishore Mahbubani describes in his TED Talk, “How the

West Can Adapt to a Rising Asia,” China (and India) were the largest economies in the world between 1–1820 CE and only within the last 200 years has the West risen to prominence on the global stage.1 As such, China and India’s rise to power now should not come as a surprise to anyone who understands the histories of these two countries; however, the West, who have come into global dominance over the past two centuries continually search for avenues to assert their dominance. One such avenue materializes in the form of news media.

In a continually globalizing society, the information we receive from news sources helps us shape our opinions of the world around us. The ways in which media outlets methodically choose stories influence how we view another country’s people, society, and culture. Those lacking in knowledge about other parts of the world are particularly susceptible to news about foreign countries. Without specialized interest or knowledge of certain parts of the world, most people will take what they read in the news at face value. The need for localization in news writing further exacerbates this issue since it changes the way stories are written, and therefore perceived, by the target audience.

The way in which the West perceives China has evolved through the mediums of mass media and has created a negative representation for the modern Western populace. Chinese culture has been misconstrued and viewed through a lens of bias within Western media created by a deliberate agenda to place China on a level inferior to the West. If “…culture is said to embody the ‘best that has been thought and said’ in a society, …the sum of the great ideas, as

1 Kishore Mahbubani shares his thoughts on how the United States ‘fell asleep’ at the exact time China and India began rising to power. His talk shares ideas of how America can learn to adapt to this new world order moving forward. Kishore Mahbubani. “How the West Can Adapt to a Rising Asia.” YouTube, uploaded by TED, 6 Sep. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsJWs6Z6eNs. 6 represented in the classic works of literature, painting, music, and philosophy…,”2 then Western media has chosen to omit the signifying features of Chinese culture and replace them with the elements that segregate it into the category of ‘Other’ for the West’s benefit.

The information that the Western world receives about China shapes their understanding about Chinese culture, values, history, and development. Society is seeing a revitalization of decades’ old beliefs that are now revolved around China. These concepts are being covertly, and sometimes overtly, reformed to shape Western agendas that intend to place the West in a position of superiority.3 This superiority encompasses the realms of politics, culture, environmental issues, and social issues.

With all this in mind it may be difficult to imagine translation’s role in the segregation of

China and Chinese culture. As mentioned in the beginning of this introduction, translation has traditionally been thought of as a text to text transfer of meaning. In recent years, as the world increasingly shrinks, information rapidly finds itself circulating between different countries all around the world. With so much news, the need to sift through the staggering number of stories becomes ever more important. In addition, much of this news is reported using languages other than English, resulting in the need for translators; however, these two conditions bring with them a different set of rules to news agencies throughout the world.

In their compilation of essays on translation within the realm of global news, Susan

Bassnett and Esperanca Bielsa believe that in these modern times “…the very definition of

2 Stuart Hall. “Introduction.” Representations: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. edited by Stuart Hall, Sage Publications, 1997, p. 3. 3 David Morley. “EurAm, modernity, reason and alterity: or, postmodernism, the highest stage of cultural imperialism?” Critical Dialogues in Cultural Studies. Stuart Hall, edited by David Morley and Kuan-Hsing Chen, Routeledge, 1996, p. 328. 7 translation is challenged and the boundaries of what we might term translation have been recast.”4 No longer a transference from A to B, news translation must also deal with the cultural boundaries between different countries. As news passes from one place to the next it must go through a transformation that fits within the norms of the target culture. This is where localization comes into play. News needs to read naturally regardless of where it came from and since “…very different journalistic practices and rhetorical traditions…have become conventionalized in different cultures”5 each piece of news must conform to different norms in different countries. The difficulty being that no set rules or guidelines exist to keep news consistent across the world. This can lead to stories being manipulated and utilized strictly to fuel a specific agenda.

Another pressure which not only translators, but all reporters face, is that of newsworthiness – which news stories get reported. More concerning is the select few CEO’s who control the means of global media. With such few people having reign over media sources, it can be reasonably inferred that these CEO’s and media executives have the final say as to what is newsworthy. Widespread use of the internet and the ubiquity of social media platforms have caused attention spans to decrease to a mere eight seconds.6 With such hyper-shortened attention spans, news providers must find ways to attract readers to their articles. Catchy headlines and news that follows mainstream ideology will naturally garner more clicks than news which attempts to give its readers an adversarial opinion or an opinion opposite to that which they have

4 Esperanca Bielsa and Susan Bassnett. “Introduction.” Translation in Global News. Routeledge, 2009, p. 2. 5 Susan Bassnett. “Redefining Translation in a Global Age” Translation. Routeledge, 2014, p. 132 6 This Time article goes in depth into the way the digitized age has affected our abilities to stay focused on one task at a time. The study done by Microsoft Corp. found that the time people spent concentrating on a single task has decreased by 4 seconds between the years 2000 – 2015. Now, five years later, we can only imagine how much this has been exacerbated. Kevin McSpadden. “You Now Have a Shorter Attention Span Than a Goldfish.” Time, 14 May 2015. https://time.com/3858309/attention-spans-goldfish/ 8 grown accustomed to seeing. Combine this pressure with the need to translate news from other countries and we can see the formation of a biased world view via news media.

The dangers of this kind of reporting bury themselves deep into the national psyche. They lead to xenophobia, racism, discrimination, and elitism. What we are seeing in now in the United

States partly derives from this kind of media influence. Regarding the US-China relationship,

China became US’s target during Obama’s first administration. According to the World

Economic Forum “…US strategists and the Obama administration locked China in as its main rival and a thorn in its side, hence the shift of its global gravity to Asia, or precisely, to the surrounding regions of China.”7 This starting point has led to the US-China Trade War, beginning in 2018 and to the barbaric treatment of Chinese-Americans amid the COIVD – 19 crisis.

The crude treatment of Chinese - Americans makes even more sense when we look at

Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent. Although published in 1988, toward the end of the Cold War, much of the information within its pages ring true today – specifically, the fifth filter, “Anti-Communism as a Control Mechanism.” Western media needs a common enemy to push its agenda and bring the masses to a common understanding. An understanding which feeds into the hands of elites.

A final filter is the ideology of anticommunism. Communism as the ultimate evil has

always been the specter haunting property owners, as it threatens the very root of their

class position and superior status. The Soviet, Chinese, and Cuban revolutions were

traumas to Western elites, and the ongoing conflicts and the well-publicized abuses of

7 Jin Canrong. “How America’s relationship with China changed under Obama.” World Economic Forum. 14 Dec. 2016. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/12/america-china-relationship/ 9

Communist states have contributed to elevating opposition to communism to a first

principle of Western ideology and politics.8

Words written thirty-two years ago remain terrifyingly true today. Instead of Communist Russia, the enemy has now been replaced with Communist China and the repercussions can be seen plainly with the current United States presidential administration.

While reporting and publishing news that fits national agendas may not change in the foreseeable future, what this research hopes to do is further an understanding of how the news continues to deliberately place China in a weaker position. “The US remains focused on itself and its allies, unable to treat China as an equal.”9 The world has seen this self-serving attitude before during the beginnings of the War in Afghanistan. The US jumped headfirst into a conflict with a country they viewed from an Americentric lens. Claiming democracy was a good fit for every nation, without truly understanding the culture and history of the area in which they would be in conflict with for the next few decades. Before history repeats itself, the media and subsequently the Western populace should see more than just the headline stories appropriated by a select few.

The first part of this research will discuss China’s historical interaction with the West and how that interaction has shaped Western viewpoints on the country. The latter half of this thesis will take articles and front pages from the English and Chinese BBC’s webpages to demonstrate how the Western world manages and translates modern perspectives on China – along with

Chinese culture – and how the selection of these articles reinforces preconceived stereotypes to

8 Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. Pantheon Books, 1988, p. 29. 9 Jin Canrong. “How America’s relationship with China changed under Obama.” World Economic Forum. 14 Dec. 2016. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/12/america-china-relationship/ 10 further agendas of subjugating China. This thesis does not argue that issues such as: human rights, pollution, and corruption do not exist in China. Like in many other countries, they do. The goal of this research is to make apparent the deliberate choices western media makes to have a, as Edward W. Said says, “…Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient.”10

To better comprehend the relationship between the current western media culture and its attitude toward China, a look at the key trends in history dealing with China and the West will provide a structural framework to better understanding contemporary media attitudes. I will take sources from a variety of western media outlets to provide evidence of the biased nature Western media has used to portray cultures it deems as ‘Other.’ This section of research will involve

Western perspectives on threats to its global dominance. Research will be taken from media sources written in both Chinese, and English, during the eras mentioned above. This section rise of modern China and western responses to China’s growing economic power and will aim to divulge any cultural references to China with the purpose of uncovering the amount of Eastern culture portrayed by Western media.

The second section of this research will delve into the use of language as a colonizing weapon, both in past and present. While translation, in the strictest sense of the word, takes one language and transforms it into another, translation also occurs when we input language of any kind into our own minds. Information is input into our auditory senses, travels through the many synapses of the brain, and stores itself there for further use. The users’ own background, culture, language, all play a major role in how they choose to translate this information.

10 Edward W. Said. Orientalism. Vintage Books, 1979, p.3. 11

With the outbreak of COVID-19, simultaneously with the calamities to societies and medical institutions the world over, a crux of the problem arises from culture. People around the globe have been sneering at China for the mismanagement and opacity of the current pandemic.

This has resulted in discrimination of Chinese around the globe – in particular, the United States.

As the number of cases in the US has surpassed any other country, Chinese Americans are continuing to feel the glare from their peers. Xenophobic language continues to permeate not only news and social media, but the upper echelons of the American administration, as well.

12

Chapter Two: Theory, Literature Review, and Purpose

This chapter will reflect the various translation and cultural theories being utilized within the discussion of how China and Chinese culture is represented via Western media. An explanation of how each theory connects to the focus of this research will bring give the reader a better perspective of the thesis. Following the theories, a literature review on some of the most relevant documents will explain the range of previous research and how this current project will fill in gaps and connect it to the corpus of existing information. After reading this chapter of the paper, the reader will have a better idea where to ground this research in terms of translation and cultural representation.

Theories

When writing about a topic as multidisciplinary as news translation and cultural representation, there are various precedential theories that need to be considered. Key theorists such as Itamar Even-Zohar, Theo Hermans, Andre Lefevere, Susan Bassnett, Esperanca Bielsa, and Noam Chomsky pay vital roles in the understanding of cultural transfer in our modern age.

Theories in cultural studies, such as: signifying practices and Saussure’s constructionist view on language also provide a framework for the understanding of how media warps language to create a mental landscape for readers that fits the desires of those in power. The utilization of these theories and ideas on the use of language and media as tools will give the readers a basis with which to frame much of this research.

First and foremost, Itamar Even-Zohar’s ‘Polysystems Theory’ must act as a precursor for any conversation about the impact of translation on culture and national identity. Owing to 13 the lack of academia and research on the potential impact of translation on culture and ‘national culture,’ Even-Zohar created the Polysystems Theory:

…to point out that translation has played a major role in shaping literatures, despite its

relegation to the periphery by most literary historians. Even-Zohar challenged the

marginalization of translation and proposed that far more research was needed into how

texts are selected for translation, what the impact of those translations on the receiving

literature might be, whether there are patterns of greater or lesser translation activity at

certain times and in certain cultures, and of so why this should be the case.11

His work, coupled with collaborator Gideon Toury, added the broader context of culture to the already established textual analysis which translation traditionally was analyzed. In this way, political and socio-economic factors also played into translation, while also adding national ideological perspectives.

This work was then continued by Theo Hermans in Translation and Normativity. Written in 1998, it popularized the idea of norms, or values, within translation. Hermans brilliantly brings in the work of Thomas Merton’s ‘The Normative Structure of Science’ to depict how translation can also fall into the realm of scientific inquiry. He quotes Merton saying, “‘The norms [of science] are expressed in the form of prescriptions, proscriptions, preferences, and permissions.

They are legitimized in terms of institutional values.’”12 These values support the conscious choices translators make when translating a text, or, in closer relation to this research, which articles to translate. In the essay’s introduction, Hermans states that the his “..focus will be on the translator’s choices against a background of a limited range of practically available alternatives,

11 Susan Bassnett. “The Origins and Development of Translation Studies.” Translation. Routeledge, New York, 2014, p. 20. 12 Theo Hermans. “Translation and Normativity.” Current Issues in Language and Society, vol.5, No 1&2, 1998, p.51. 14 and on the possible reasons why a particular option was selected…”13 While Hermans is referring to the choices a translator makes within a single translation, we can take this idea and expand it onto a larger scale – the choices translators make when choosing what to translate, particularly within the realm of news translation. Let’s quickly examine Hermans view on these choices:

The privileging of selectivity has two distinct advantages. One the one hand, the choices

which the translator makes simultaneously highlight the exclusions, the paths that were

open but that were not chosen. On the other hand, the approach sheds light on the

interplay between the translator’s responses to existing expectations, constraints and

pressures, and his or her intentional goal-directed action or agency.14

Breaking down these ideas on a macro scale uncovers many of the points this research intends to reveal. First, revealing ‘paths’ not taken via choices made underscores the main point of this research. Journalists and media outlets consciously choosing to highlight the negative aspects of China and Chinese culture makes clear that which they are choosing not to report, the positive. Unfortunately, for those not conscious of translations minutiae, this distinction between words unspoken through words spoke is not always obvious. Second, ‘responses to existing expectations.’ In terms of this paper, ‘existing expectations’ can be taken to refer to the social values of a country and what they ‘expect’ to see from the news. This point in Hermans essay connects with his views on the “three normative levels.” The aforementioned point refers to the first level: the “general cultural and ideological norms which may be held to apply throughout the larger part of a community.”15 Later, this research will provide a historical background of

13 Ibid., 52. 14 Ibid., 52. 15 Theo Hermans. “Translation and Normativity.” Current Issues in Language and Society, vol.5, No 1&2, 1998, p.60. 15 xenophobic attitudes toward China. This examination will make clear the ‘ideological and cultural norms’ America holds about China and how they have been used as a tool of suppression. Third, ‘constraints and pressures.’ This connects with Herman’s third normative level: “the textual and other appropriateness norms which prevail in the particular client system for which individual translations cater.”16 In the case of this research, the ‘client system’ and

‘constraints and pressures’ can be thought of as those with positions equating to media executives or higher. People in these positions have the authority to mandate what their employees report, subsequently affecting what information the populace absorbs. All of this then culminates into the fourth and final point: ‘intentional goal-directed action or agency,” with the keyword being intentional. Previous points have depicted what is not being translated, the environment in which a translation is taking place, and restrictions the translator may face. Here, with the background sufficiently explained, the choice is finally overseen by those in power, by those whose interests the translation serves to strengthen.

By expanding on Even-Zohar and Gideon Toury’s research on the norm concept, he has provided a structure for modern practitioners and scholars of translation studies. His de-mantling of the idea of equivalence has further strengthened the theory of the ‘cultural turn.’ The norms concept aids in the understanding of why certain translation choices are made on an ideological, cultural, and social level and this research would be incomplete without it. One of the most influential quotes in Hermans’ essay on normativity leads into our next theorists ideas of post- colonial translation and power struggles in translation: “As postcolonial approaches to cultural history have shown again and again, relations between communities and cultures are never relations between equals.”17

16 Ibid., 60 17 Theo Hermans. “Translation and Normativity.” Current Issues in Language and Society, vol.5, No 1&2, 1998, p.62. 16

Andre Lefevere in his seminal work Translation, Rewriting, and the Manipulation of

Literary Fame discusses “…issues such as power, ideology, institution and manipulation”18 He believes that the people in power are the ones who control the means of ‘rewriting literature’ and thus have the ability to manipulate the thoughts of the masses. Through such control over translation it becomes easy to imagine how those in positions of authority can push their agendas forward. Lefevere’s theory is that “the literary system in which translation functions is controlled by two main factors, which are (1) professionals within the literary system, who partly determine the dominant poetics; and (2) patronage outside the literary system which partly determines the ideology.”19 When applied to this research, these two factors play a dominant role in the distribution of cultural and translated information.

We can take (1) to be the journalists and translators within media organizations and (2) to represent media executives and those in positions of power controlling what stories make it to press. Journalists determine which parts of a translation will receive the most attention, focusing on portions in which (2) believes are imperative for the public. This combination leads to articles which are hand-picked based on the ideology of (2) and reshaped with the technical expertise of

(1); however, it is (2) – the patronage – that plays the leading role in this dynamic. Lefevere believes that the pressures placed upon the translator are almost entirely ideological and these pressures are imposed by the patronage who dictate what the translator can or cannot translate.20

As will become clear in the following chapters, patronage will play a critical role in the manipulation of Western ideology about China and Chinese culture.

18 Andre Lefevere. “Prewrite.” Translation, Rewriting, and the Manipulation of Literary Fame. Routeledge, New York, 1992, p. 2. 19 Jeremy Munday. “Cultural and Ideological Turns.” Introducing Translation Studies.” Routeledge, London, 2012, p. 194. 20 Ibid., p. 197.

17

The following theorist is a close companion and co-author with Lefevere. Susan Bassnett has worked with Lefevere to create numerous works that have pushed the theory of the ‘cultural turn’ in translation forward. Bassnett has contributed numerous essays on topics regarding translations role within culture, gender, news, globalization, postcolonialism, and literature. Her breadth of knowledge pertaining to translation’s effects on culture and society has given shape to many of the ideas within this research. One such theory is the effect of translation within global news.

Bassnett, with the help of Esperanca Bielsa, embarked on a topic which many translation scholars have yet to pursue, news translation. More specifically, how translation within the news disembarks from traditional text-to-text translation but plays on the many facets of power and globalization. Her research into global news translation depicts further the manipulation and rewriting of literature proposed by Lefevere. The crux of this research deals with media representation of China in the West regarding cultural translation and Bassnett’s theories into the use of translation in global news segues perfectly into this thesis.

Similarly, Noam Chomsky also criticizes mass media with his theory of the five filters of mass media and how these filters create a system of propaganda which allows democratic countries, such as the United States and England, to covertly control the populace and push national agendas. The five filters are: media ownership, advertising, sourcing mass media, flak and enforcers, and a common enemy.21 I will quickly review the five filters to provide a background for how these filters tie into translation, the media, and China.

Filter one, media ownership. Each news organization is a large corporation and as such is concerned with making a profit. Anything that serves the interest of making that profit will be

21 Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky. Manufacturing Consent. Pantheon Books, New York, p. 1-35. 18 given priority over other needs. What is more, the number of companies that control media in the

West continues to shrink and consolidate, meaning that only a few executives manage all the news we read and hear. Filter two, advertising. Since news companies do not turn high profits, advertisers are left to fill the financial gaps, thus, audiences are sold to advertisers in turn for monetary gain. Filter three, sourcing mass media. “The mass media are drawn into a symbiotic relationship with powerful sources of information by economic necessity and reciprocity of interest.”22 These ‘sources of information’ include places such as the government, large conglomerates, and other journalists. These become a steady source of information for mass media and so the news continues to go back again and again. It is in both parties’ interests to continue feeding off of each other. This leads to filter four, flak and enforcers. Those people who want to go against the mainstream media and report on a story that goes against the ‘steady sources of information’ are silenced and discredited. The fifth filter, a common enemy. Over the past century, the West has had qualms with but a few issues that have dazzlingly captured the public’s attention: communism, terrorism, immigration. The media caricaturizes these issues to curb public opinion in favor with what the government desires. The most obvious is communism.

The anti-communist control mechanism reaches through the system to exercise a

profound influence on the mass media. In normal times as well as in periods of Red

scares, issues tend to be framed in terms of a dichotomized world of Communist and anti-

Communist powers, with gains and losses allocated to contesting sides, and rooting for

“our side” considered an entirely legitimate news practice.23

If this was not glaringly apparent during the Cold War than it must be obvious with America’s present conflict with China.

22 Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky. Manufacturing Consent. Pantheon Books, New York, p. 18. 23 Ibid., p. 30-31. 19

While this theory does not have a direct connection with translation, it is important to note how Western opinion may not be as democratic and free as one may think. The ways in which consent is manufactured correlates to Western perspectives on China. The United States populace unknowingly takes most of the information about China and Chinese culture to be true solely based off a few news reports and depictions in mass media. Utilizing the five filters, it is easy to imagine how people can be manipulated into believing what the media machine and its sources want them to believe.

Literature Review

Within this compilation, review, and analysis of literature related to the conscious distortion of China and Chinese culture will be essays and research conducted on a variety of topics: representation, postcolonial translation, globalization, along with theories from translators, both living and deceased. Additionally, the understanding of views toward China must be based on the evolution of the relationship between the West (predominantly the United States) and China itself. Sources discussing past relations with China will flow into prominent authors depicting the current relationship with the “Middle Kingdom.”

Prior to these historical sources, we must first understand depictions in global media. A discussion of misrepresentation of culture within global news media covers an array of academic fields. To first understand how we create meaning from the visual stimuli bombarding our retinae daily, a comprehension of cultural representations and signifying practices is needed to ground us in the basic principles of how language carries meaning.

In Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices (Hall, 1997) Stuart

Hall describes how language acts as a representational system, adding signs and symbols to 20 represent more complex meanings. While this may sound simple and straightforward, Hall attaches culture to this representation, in which he describes it as the “‘giving and taking of meaning’ – between members of a society or group.”24 Within this way, the citizens of the same society create practices in which they have a shared meaning and understanding; however, what happens when two members of different ‘cultures’ encounter each other with widely skewed representational meanings? Hall gets to this point later in Chapter 1 when he discusses the constructivist theory of language in which he states that we ourselves fix meaning to objects and said meaning is “constructed by the system of representation.”25 We then eventually go on to internalize these meanings into codes i.e. language as we become part of the culture in which we are raised. These codes then create meanings and “shared conceptual maps” within cultures that we use to give meaning to the world around us.

Within his discussion of representation, there is a foundation in how these representations shape cultures, and simple examples are even given to ground the theories into reality: giving the semiotic symbol for a tree as the word TREE in English and ARBRE in French. These help the reader to understand how people from a Western country are raised with a shared conceptual map for ‘China’ and the cultural representations that come along with it, but the information lacks concrete connection to how media specifically shapes representations or molds conceptual maps from different cultures, nor does Hall create a direct correlation with his representations and translation.

Susan Bassnett, in her article “Redefining Translation in a Global Age” builds upon the idea that different cultures embrace varied methods of expression, however, she takes it two steps

24 Stuart Hall. “Introduction.” Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. edited by Stuart Hall, Sage Publications, 1997, p. 2. 25 Ibid., p. 21. 21 further and grounds the topic firmly in the realm on translation within news media. She not only brings up the fact that “the comic byline or headline, much used by the British tabloid press would be unacceptable in other cultures”, solidifying the idea that news representation around the world differs depending on existing norms, but also gives an example which inspired my line of inquiry into misrepresentations of culture. She states that a U.S. newspaper created a headline using “a host of archaic, awkward phrases and structures” to depict an Al-Qaida car bomb; instead, they used the phrase cars of death.26 As she continues her essay, she sheds light on the world of news translation. News translation, she posits, has less to do with linguistic transfer, but rather another form of translation: one in which information from another language “are cherry- picked from a large amount of material that is then discarded”, making the point that active choices are made when considering what information should or should not be relayed into another language.

Bassnett’s research into the world of news translation, while providing the impetus for this research, did not have direct information regarding the manipulation of languages for the benefit of another country. Examples were provided, but specific data as to why the information was manipulated were left out.

Vicente Rafael, in his book Motherless Tongues, mediates this gap. Chapter 2 in his book, entitled “Wars of Translation” depict an American-colonized Philippines in which English has been invaded all parts of life: education, society, politics. He details an essay written by Renato

Constantino, “The Mis-education of the Filipino,” in which he describes the loss of national identity to American occupation, largely due to the fact that “Philippine schools, he claimed,

26 Susan Bassnett. “Redefining Translation in a Global Age.” Translation. Routeledge, New York, 2014, p. 133. 22 perpetuated the work of colonial education.”27 English, from the time of the Britain’s international conquests of the 17th century to post-WWII – when America was left a virtually unscathed superpower – has dominated the global sphere as the de facto language of choice.

Slowly, translation from Tagalog into English, transformed into Filipino English. Rafael describes American teachers in the Philippines wrought with anger that, although “standard”

English was being taught, Filipinos were still engaged in a form of translation.

Rafael continues with his depiction of America’s aggressive spread of English as a postcolonial tool for domination in Chapter 4, “Translation, American English, and the National

Insecurities of Empire.” In this chapter, Rafael “delineate[s] the historical specificity of a nationalist idea of translation in the making of an American Empire.”28 He opens with a quote from George W. Bush stating the importance of foreign languages to understand other cultures.

While seemingly liberal and open-minded, the motivation for learning other languages becomes clear, it is an “’essential war fighting skill.’”29 The purpose for learning any language at all,

Rafael states, is to bring other cultures into “our way of life.” Examples are given of America’s separation from Great Britain in which American English was created to reject the language and ways of the “Old World” and create a new “pure language” to “promote virtue and patriotism.”

Clearly, since the foundation of the United States, there has been one ruling principle, my way or the highway. Eventually known as a melting pot, Rafael argues that this spread of demand for use of English actually “reworks differences into sameness” and “requires the ‘annihilation’ of differences.” He brings up the example of Native Americans only being redeemable in the eyes

27 Vicente L. Rafael. Motherless Tongues: The Insurgency of Language amid Wars of Translation. Duke University Press, Durham and London, 2016, p.47. 28 Ibid., 100. 29 Ibid., 101. 23 of “real Americans” if they could communicate in English. How this then relates to translation is that most of it only flows in one direction, to English. Or, if it moves in the other direction it is for the sole purpose of eventually working it back into English. Rafael describes interpreters in the field of battle, unable to return to their homes for fear of persecution and not quite fitting into the American ranks. “Interpreters who were killed…were treated with tender regard…memorialized by U.S. solders as ‘one of us.’”30 We see in this section a need in America for an “us” and “them.” Always a boundary.

This unrelenting depiction of America as a holier-than-thou nation comes on strong with the reader. While there are undeniable facts about the status of English around the world and the ambitions of America to remain a world power using postcolonial language tactics. The chapters provide amble information about America’s desire to suppress other languages and cultures to remain a dominant force on the global arena.

With direct relation to how America uses power and the media to influence ideology on

China, Colin Patrick Mackerras, with translations by 張勇先 and 吳迪 from Renmin University of China’s Foreign Languages Department, writes about the many stages of Western images of

China in Western Images of China Since 1949: 1949 年以來中國在西方的形象. As the title suggests, the book details how Western countries have viewed China starting from 1949. The book starts with 1949 because of the Communist victory over the KMT and the establishment of what is considered modern China. It is then separated into various segments of history: 1949-

1971, 1971-2001, and 21st century images on politics and foreign relations; 20th century and 21st

30 Vicente L. Rafael. Motherless Tongues: The Insurgency of Language amid Wars of Translation. Duke University Press, Durham and London, 2016, p.102 – 116. 24 century images on economics and population policies, along with environmental issues; and finally, images on China’s social culture.

Mackerras portrays an unstable relationship with China during the mid-20th century, especially with the Western fear of the USSR and spread of communism. Maintaining positive relations with Taiwan also remained a key factor to the US. Reactions to the Vietnam War and the fall of the Soviet Union all played key factors in the negative perception the Western world hard toward China. Although China became more involved on the global stage, such as admission into the World Trade Organization and the World Health Organization, overall,

Western opinion remained negative toward China. As the 21st century continues, Mackerras shows how the West, especially the United States, becomes more and more defensive of an ever- growing China. The end of his research quickly covers cultural representations of China regarding movies, the internet, religion, and social structure.

Overall, the book provides significant examples of how the West views China during specific historical periods. Mackerras provides multiple references to a wide variety of official government documents, news articles, and surveys taken about China as evidence for his claims that there has been an overall negative sentiment toward China from the West. These pieces of evidence have been instrumental during the process of my own research; however, where this research differs from Mackerras is that it focuses directly on one news outlet and compares news provided in Chinese and English. Mackerras’ broad use of sources gives evidence from a wealth of platforms, but it also hinders his research by stretching it thin. My plan will be to improve upon this research further through the use of cultural translation.

25

This research plans to utilize the above literature within the implementation of how Western media misrepresents China and Chinese culture. Having a solid foundation in how meanings are formed from representations, getting a glimpse at how news translation methodically selects news from other countries to report, and understanding how English and America as a whole has come to dominate global affairs, all will further my research into how America can make an unlikely ally as opposed to a life-long enemy.

Purpose and Importance

This research focuses on America’s news media response to an ever more powerful China; however, throughout this research the term ‘Western’ powers will be used frequently to describe the United Kingdom and the United States together. I use the term ‘Western’ to portray a broader distaste for China, but a majority of the research will focus on America.

Prior to what will become a discussion about the importance of this research, I would like to start with a quote from Henry Kissinger’s book World Order. As a politician and diplomat with decades of experience, Kissinger imparts his views on how a rising East and already powerful West are changing a centuries-old, Western-dominated ‘World Order.’ This quote derives from his view on Western expansionism in the 1400s.

At the dawn of what is now called the modern age in the fifteenth century, a confident,

fractious, territorially divided West had set sail to reconnoiter the globe and to improve,

exploit, and “civilize” the lands it came upon…The West expanded with the familiar

hallmarks of colonialism – avariciousness, cultural chauvinism, lust for glory. But it is

also true that its better elements tried to lead a kind of global tutorial in an intellectual

method that encouraged skepticism and a body of political and diplomatic practices 26

ultimately including democracy. It all be ensured that, after long periods of subjugation,

the colonized peoples would eventually demand – and achieve – self-determination. Even

during their most brutal depredations, the expansionist powers put forth, especially in

Britain, a vision that at some point conquered peoples would begin to participate in the

fruits of a common global system.31

This begins the story of the repeated subjugation of modern China by Western powers, particularly America.

China has become one of the largest economies in the world and has begun spreading its influence across the globe. From global supply chains to funding governments in African countries, it seems China has already established its roots in the global economic system; however, visceral reactions to this ‘intrusion’ from Western countries remain ubiquitous.

Whether it be in popular culture or literature, the West consistently labels China as ‘the Other,’ irreparably different, and therefore unacceptable, to the mainstream global powers. China represents an inverse of the democratic and capitalist ideology which Western powers have practiced since their inception. In the West, these ideals have always been heralded as the most righteous way in which to carry state and order, from the Greeks and Romans to modern

America.

Taking a moment to review the history of America will provide a better grasp of how this sanctimonious mindset has arisen. America has been successful, or relatively successful, at quashing all incursions to their own (1) national interests from the late 1700s – early 1900’s and

(2) ‘world order’ from the mid 1900’s – present day.

31 Henry Kissinger. World Order. Penguin Books: New York, 2014, p. 174. 27

After the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Britain began the colonization of

America and by the mid-1700s the 13 British colonies were firmly established on the east coast.

Unhappy with being governed by a country thousands of kilometers across the Atlantic Ocean, the newly found ‘Americas’ fought against their colonizers and gained independence in 1776. In the War of 1812, Americans supplanted their colonizers once and for all and came “…to accomplish what no other country was in a position to conceive: it became a great power and a nation of continental scope through the sheet accumulation of domestic power, with a foreign policy focused almost entirely on the negative goal of keeping foreign developments as far at bay as possible.”32 Of course, such an unprecedented revolution to control such an immense country would lead to what would become known as “manifest destiny.” A self-proclaimed belief that revolved around three main guidelines: (1) The special virtues of the American people and their institutions, (2) The mission of the United States to redeem and remake the west in the image of agrarian America , and (3) An irresistible destiny to accomplish this essential duty.33 When a nation begins to believe that it has a destiny to conquer an entire land and those who inhabit it, what makes it different from its colonizers? Why would the nation stop solely at the lands within its immediate vicinity?

In 1912, “Woodrow Wilson turned the vision America had asserted largely for itself into an operational program applicable to the entire world.”34 As one of the only nations not suffering from a crippling economy and dilapidating infrastructure after the end of World War I, America attempted to set the terms for the League of Nations. After World War II, America, again, finds

32 Henry Kissinger. World Order. Penguin Books: New York, 2014, p. 240. 33 Robert Miller. Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, and Manifest Destiny. Greenwood, 2006, p. 120. 34 Henry Kissinger. World Order. Penguin Books: New York, 2014, p. 256. 28 itself as the country in the most advantageous position. Having successfully protected its interests in the Pacific by defeating Japan with the world’s first atomic weapon and assisting the

Allies with troops in Europe, the United States itself was left unscathed. Without damage to its homeland and an economic boom due to the war, America was in a position to set the terms of peace after the war, resulting in the United Nations.

The next threat came from the WWII ally, the USSR. As the only other superpower left comparable to the US, the USSR posed the largest threat, particularly because of communism.

During the Cold War period the US also actively inserted itself into conflicts around the world to maintain its own world order – the Korean and Vietnam Wars most notably. These wars met with very mixed reviews and divided the country about which direction to take on the international stage; however, this would all change with the collapse of the Soviet Union in

1991. The regime’s defeat came as one of the largest victories for the United States and Western powers. It gave confirmation to the importance of Western ideology and world order. A new manifest destiny for the 20th century.

With the USSR a thing of the past, the United States continued to push for its own ideals of pluralism, democracy, and transparency to countries in the Middle East, believing that these staples of American governance could be applied all over the world. The events of 9/11 added fuel to this fire and the common enemy shifted from communism to terrorism.

However, with the continual rise of China during the 21st century, America has had to readjust its sight back to communism once more. The major difference being that modern-day

China is many times more powerful economically, militarily, and geopolitically than its Soviet predecessor. Old Cold War tactics of slowly wearing down the enemy and developing technologically and militarily at a faster rate no longer apply. 29

The history of the United States is strife with fervent nationalism, self-righteous duty, and moral obligation to right the “wrongs” of other nations. How can America deal with the growing power of China? It only takes a quick glance at the news headlines to find out. Hate crimes against Chinese American citizens; use of the name “Chinese” virus; a finger-pointing accusatory spat between the US and China; potential to kick out Chinese international students.

And these are just within the last couple weeks. Relations between America and China have never been amicable or equal, but recently, the relationship has become noxious.

This research plans to take another step in the reversal of the negative Western perspective on the East. While there has been bountiful research on Western bias toward the

‘Orient’ this research will tackle it from another perspective, from the perspective of news translation. This field of translational research toward the cultural misrepresentation of China will reveal how news, that millions of people read daily, manipulate mindsets of people in

Western countries.

We need this kind of research now more than ever. Colonial mindsets, manifest destiny, power struggles, cultural wars of conquests: these are issues that cannot continue to exist if we genuinely want to become a global community. Countries are more interconnected than ever before. This means more cross-cultural connections which can easily lead to misunderstandings.

Without the awareness of our own cultural bias and where it comes from, how can we move forward as a race? Two of the strongest countries in the world have backgrounds that are two of the most polar. How they are able to overcome these differences will be the deciding factor for what direction the world moves in the 21st century.

30

Research Methods

Two methods of research comprise the bulk of this thesis: historical research about the relationship between the United States and China and comparisons between the Chinese and

English home pages for China on the BBC. Other methods of research were also considered for this thesis, such as: surveys of Chinese Americans and comparisons of English – Russian Cold

War translations to Chinese – English 2018 Trade War news translations; however, due to time constraints, inexperience with creating social surveys, and the scope of researching translations in three languages and from two very distinct time periods, these research methods were taken out of consideration. To best represent the modern struggle of understanding from West to East, I believe the research methods stated above will allow further investigations into the misrepresentations of China and Chinese culture in the West.

To place this research in contemporary context, an examination of the history between

China and the United States will allow readers to comprehend the potential motives for purposeful manipulation of information about the East. This historical research has been conducted using historical journals and textbooks, personal knowledge, and historical non-fiction novels. The information collected attempts to represent a holistic view of the US – China relationship and the many ways in which the US has subjugated and suppressed Chinese citizens in both the US and China. Since there has always been an imbalanced power relation between the US and China, most information collected shows the many negative representations China faced due to US involvement. To supplement the historical information provided, images from 31 magazines and news publications will depict western ideology toward China. These images give further evidence toward negative contemporary media representations of China.

The next research method brings the thesis toward the present day where the Chinese and

English BBC webpages are compared to show the differences in selection of stories. The research will take BBC English edition’s China front-page stories and BBC Chinese edition’s front-page stories and compare the topics, headlines, and photographs chosen. Since it can be safely conjectured that the English edition and Chinese edition of the BBC are targeted toward different audiences, their range of stories will likewise differ.

The BBC is a news source that provides thousands of people with information from all over the world. In America, the BBC ranks as the fourth most trusted news sources according to a survey conducted by the Missouri’s School of Journalism: Trusting News project.35 A graph of the most and least trusted news sources can be found in The Least and Most Trusted News

Sources.36 The survey asked 8,728 people which news sources they trusted to give them the most accurate account of what happened around the world. An excerpt from the American number one trusted news source, The Economist, will appear later in this essay, criticizing the Beijing

Olympics Opening Ceremony. If the argument is made that the way in which American readers view the news accounts for how other western countries view the news, then The Economist’s view of China does not bode well for China’s image in contemporary media.

35 Michael W. Kearny. “Trusting News Project Report 2017.” A Reynolds Journalism Institute research project, 2017, https://www.rjionline.org/reporthtml.html. 36 See [figure 1]. 32

[figure 1] Michael W. Kearny. “Trusting News Project Report 2017.” A Reynolds Journalism Institute research project, 2017, https://www.rjionline.org/reporthtml.html.

While the BBC and The Economist both come from Britain, they have a large following in America. Their influence on the American populace and American media plays a large role in how the American public shapes their perceptions. Even if a portion of the American population does not follow the BBC, or use the BBC as a main news source, the influence the BBC carries in the USA inadvertently manifests itself in other American news sources and the free flow exchange of information amongst the American people.

As mentioned above, the BBC and The Economist are ranked fourth and first respectively in their trustworthiness amongst American audiences. Moreover, in Reuters Institute Digital 33

News Report 2019, 11% of Americans read or watch the BBC on TV, radio, print, and online.37

This shows that although the BBC does not come from America, one of the largest consumers of

BBC news is the American audience, thus the news must be adapted to represent the needs of the

American populace.

[figure 2] Reuters Institute Digital News Report. 2019, p. 118.

In chapters four and five, I have chosen twenty images from the BBC English and

Chinese webpages to compare the selection of stories and ways in which those stories have been represented on each respective homepage and how those stories have been translated. Of course, selected a few stories to represent three years of international relations comes as no easy task. As such, during the selection of these stories, my goal was to remain as unbiased as possible. The stories selected represent both negative, neutral, and a few positive representations of China in

Western eyes. This has been with the hopes of avoiding the same fault which I accuse Western media of committing: the cherry-picking of information for my own means and purposes.

37 See [figure 2]. 34

Chapter Three: China’s History and Western Media Perspectives

To better comprehend the relationship between the current western media culture and its attitude toward China, a look at the key trends in history dealing with China and the West will provide a structural framework to better understand contemporary media perspectives. The history between the West and China is long and complex. Dating back to Marco Polo and his ventures into Asia during the 13th century, there is clearly an abundance of historical information. For the sake of brevity and conciseness, this chapter will focus on the last 150 years of history between the West and China.

Even during these 150 years there has been a tumultuous amount of interaction with China and the West. The following information will very briefly attempt to examine a general overview of the Western viewpoint on China. This chapter in no way attempts to sum up the entirety of

West-East history; it will simply provide a framework with which to base this thesis.

This brief historical relationship between the West and China will give evidence to the Theo

Hermans idea that the “general cultural and ideological norms which may be held to apply throughout the larger part of a community.”38 The consistent, condescending, colonialist behavior portrayed by the West toward China makes apparent the modern media agenda of creating an unfavorable image of China.

China’s most globally significant exposure to the west happened in the mid-19th century, during the Opium Wars. This period saw extensive trade between China and the West, particularly the sale of opium from Britain. Between the years 1839-1860, trade ports in China were forced open by western powers who desired to create further trade ties with an unwilling

38 Theo Hermans. “Translation and Normativity.” Current Issues in Language and Society, vol.5, No 1&2, 1998, p.60. 35

China. Due to China’s loss in the Opium Wars, a series of ‘unequal’ treaties were created, splitting more than thirty trading ports amongst Western nations.39 “In Chinese eyes there could not have been a more blatant case of international bullying, of the morally repugnant imposing their will on those trying to do the right thing.”40

While these are widely held views of the unfair treatment toward China during the

‘Opium Wars,’ arguments exist catered toward China treating the West as ‘barbarians’ and

‘vassals.’ John Quincy Adams famously stated, “The opium question is not the cause of the war, but the arrogant and insupportable pretensions of China that she will hold commercial intercourse with the rest of mankind, not upon terms of equal reciprocity, but upon the insulting and degrading forms of the relation between lord and vassal,”41 thusly creating the segregation of

Chinese into ‘Other.’ An ‘Other’ that places the West into the position of a ‘vassal,’ an obviously unacceptable fate for colonizing powers such as Britain and the United States.

However, we see a phenomenon at play here that Stuart Hall has borrowed from British artists and art historians Kobena Mercer and Isaac Julien, referred to as “…the circularity of power and the ambivalence – the double-sided nature – of representation and stereotyping.”42 He compares the representation of black and white men, during the early 1980’s in America, working on two different levels, a conscious or overt level and a subconscious or suppressed level. Consciously the white men believe that ‘Blacks’ were childish in order to cover up the subconscious belief that ‘Blacks’ were actually ‘super-men’ and better than white men in many

39 Patricia B. Ebrey. The Cambridge Illustrated History of: China. Cambridge University Press, ed. 2, 2010. 40 Ibid., p. 236. 41 David A. Wells. “The Truth About the ‘Opium War.’” The North American Review, vol. 162, no. 475, 1896, p.759- 760, www.jstor.org/stable/25118667 42 Stuart Hall. “The Spectacle of the ‘Other.’ Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. edited by Stuart Hall, Sage Publications, 1997, p. 263. 36 facets.43 This power and ambivalence is at play from both China and Britain. On the conscious level, China treated foreign powers like ‘barbarians’ and people devoid of appropriate behavior, but may be seen as a cover up for a subconscious fear that the West was bringing its own value and culture systems into China which many Chinese were concerned was a direct challenge to the humanistic pattern of Confucian thought that prevailed for centuries in China.44 Fear of internal change manifested itself in overt acts of hostility to protect subconscious ideas of

Chinese values and was thusly taken by Western powers on an unconscious level that China was

‘backwards’ and needed to be brought into ‘modernity’ – the embodiment of the West. The

Opium War created some of the first visions of China in the 19th and 20th centuries and was an early step in the creation of a westernized idea of China and Chinese culture.

After skirmishes with Japan and the loss of large amounts of territory to foreign powers, mostly due to the ‘unequal treaties,’ groups of Chinese citizens, mostly from rural parts of China began to revolt against colonizing powers in what became the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. The uprising was another attempt to rid China from foreigners, particularly missionaries who “…had ventured out of the treaty ports into the Chinese interior to tell Chinese that their beliefs and practices were wrong and backward.”45 The Boxers originated from Shandong and were making their ways across China to Tianjin and Beijing, harassing and sometimes killing foreigners and converts. Empress Dowager Cixi hesitated on whether to promote the Boxers, but eventually conceded acknowledging the necessity of removing foreigners from China; however, in August

1900, 20,000 foreign troops from Britain, America, France, Japan, Spain, Germany, Italy, the

43 Ibid., p. 263. 44 Earl Swisher. “Chinese Intellectuals and the Western Impact, 1838-1900.” Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 1, no. 1, 1958, pp. 26, www.jstor.org/stable/177856. 45 Patricia B. Ebrey. The Cambridge Illustrated History of: China. Cambridge University Press, ed. 2, 2010, p. 255.

37

Netherlands, Russia, and Belgium gathered in Beijing to lift the Boxers siege on the city. After lifting the siege, sequential looting began by every country involved in the battle.46

This presents two different aspects of China to the West. First, as a country in direct opposition. The limitations placed on China from 1839 until the end of the 19th century allowed for western countries to increase trade with an unwilling China but led to direct opposition to trade and created conflicts with western powers. This then caused the forceful transitions of the

19th century. Second, a country in need of modernization and assistance by western powers. In describing the Western influence on Chinese revolutions during the unequal treaties, Joseph R.

Levenson says that these interventions are, firstly, premeditated, and more importantly, directly beneficial to the nations involved.

Therefore, liberal Western nations, often providing the inspiration for Chinese protests

against Chinese rulers, tend to support discredited Chinese regimes; to see a regime

discredited, then to step in as its only hope – that is the way to buy it. The West drains

power from the Chinese ruling circles, so that the West, for a quid pro quo, can give it

back to them.

This is the ideal pattern for the Western use of leverage against Chinese governments.47

During this time, early depictions of China are also beginning to appear. Le Petite

Journal, a French daily newspaper, published an illustration that portrayed China’s position during the late 19th century. The illustration, En Chine: Le gâteau des Rois et... des Empereurs

(1898), shows a stereotypical Qing dynasty official throwing his hands in the air as the “pie” of

46 James L. Hevia. “Looting and its Discontents: Moral Discourse and the Plunder of Beijing, 1900-1901.” The Boxers, China, and the World, edited by Bickers and Tiedman, 2007, p. 94. 47 Joseph R. Levenson. “Western Powers and Chinese Revolutions: The Pattern of Intervention.” Pacific Affairs, vol. 26, no. 3, 1953, p.231, www.jstor.org/stable/2753287. 38

China is divided by five “western” powers.48 While each character portrayed in the illustration is a caricaturized representation of symbolic figures in each respective culture, the Chinese man, a person already looked down upon by the societies of the world, stands out the most, both because of where he stands in the picture and his physical features. The Chinese official brandishes pointed talons for fingernails, upturned eyes, blackened teeth, and exaggerated facial characteristics. In an already western dominated world, this representation creates what Peter

Hamilton calls a dominant representational paradigm.49 This paradigm describes photographic tendencies of events and people of certain time periods or certain ethnic groups. The photographs are judged by the choices made by photographers and the press, but, most importantly, by the values of the people receiving and producing these images.

48 See [figure 3]. 49 Peter Hamilton. “France and Frenchness in Post-War Humanist Photography. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. edited by Stuart Hall, Sage Publications, 1997, p. 76. 39

[figure 3] Henri Meyer, “En Chine: Le gâteau des Rois et... des Empereurs” (English: China – the cake of kings and…of emperors). Le Petite Journal, 16 January 1898, http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k716261c/f8/

The dominant representational paradigm arose from post-World War II French humanistic photography, where photographers would capture the everyday lives of French citizens. Reactions to these photographs created the idea of ‘Frenchness,’ or what it meant to be

French during that period. While the post-war French humanist photographs fostered positive emotions with viewers, the ‘unequal treaty’ era Chinese illustrations provide viewers with a 40 vastly different representation, one that creates a clear separation of West and ‘Other.’

Illustrations have historically been used to cement the Western viewpoints on China during the late 19th and early 20th century. For example, [Figure 5] 50 depicts China as an octopus grasping western figures in each tentacle that are labeled with China's most negative aspects.

[figure 5] “Anti-Chinese Cartoon from 1886. The Bulletin, 1886, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anti-Chinese_Cartoon_from_1886.png

[Figure 4] 51 shows China as a 'pest’ while Queen Victoria, a woman with a hat labeled

USA, and three other western women pull a pole labeled ‘Federation’ away from an enlarged

Chinese man's face.

50 See [figure 5] 51 See [figure 4] 41

[figure 4] 1886 Anti-Chinese Cartoon from Australia. The Bulletin, 1886, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1886_Anti-Chinese_Cartoon_from_Australia.jpg#globalusage

[Figure 6]52 brings America front and center by depicting Uncle Sam standing tall on a map of China. His figure towers over five other older white male representations of France,

England, Germany, Russia, and Italy. He clasps the “Trade Treaty with China,” also known as the Open Door Policy of 1899, and says, “Gentlemen, you may cut up this map as much as you like, but remember that I’m here to stay, and you can’t divide me up into spheres of influence.”

This presentation of America’s relationship with China during the early 20th century clearly depicts a power imbalance not only with China and the US, but with the US and the rest of the

52 See [figure 6] 42 world. This cartoon symbolizes the dominance with which the United States saw itself. It also segues into the late 19th century, early 20th century relations between the US and China.

[figure 6] “Putting His Foot Down.” Puck, 1899, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Putting_his_foot_down.jpg

As the Open Door Policy increased US exploitation of Chinese resources, thousands of

Chinese immigrants poured into the American west in search of work. The book The Heathen

Chinee: A Study of American Attitudes toward China, 1890 – 1905 provides an astute depiction of the American response to the influx of Chinese immigration during the mid-19th century.

In the 1850s Americans on the West Coast did not view the Chinese as heathens, but by

the time the stage carrying the first Chinese had arrived in Great Falls, their opinion had

changed…when the demand for labor in California slacked in the 1870s, the qualities 43

which had made the Chinese desirable as laborers in the first place made them feared and

hated by other workers…Anti-Chinese agitation showed a marked increase immediately

preceding every presidential election in the 1870s and 1880s.

The anti-Chinese attitude of the West Coast soon spread to the rest of the nation…Most

of what was said about the crowded, filthy conditions in Chinatown were probably

true…But the important fact about these unfavorable descriptions is that the many

attractive qualities of the Chinese were almost completely ignored…The undesirable

aspects of Chinese life were emphasized because of the widespread antagonism toward

the Chinese in the United States.53

Opinions of Chinese living in America would continue to deteriorate in the following decades with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Immigration Act of 1924. The lack of gold in California during the Gold Rush left many of people without work that the Chinese immigrants filled, leading to increased animosity. The United States federal government then passed the Chinese Exclusion Act: the first law to ever target an entire ethnic group.54

Publications and even companies were some of the first to display their patriotic sentiment.

[Figure 7] 55 comes from promotional material for the George Dee Magic Washer, a competitor to the recognized Chinese laundromats all over the San Francisco area. The drawing shows a grinning Uncle Sam while he kicks a caricaturized Chinese laborer off a cliff. He clutches a

53 Robert McClellan. “Chinese Immigration and the Rationale for Exclusion.” The Heathen Chinee: A Study of American Attitudes toward China, 1890-1905. Ohio University Press, 1971, p. 5-6. 54 Erika Lee. At America’s Gates: Chinese Immigration During the Exclusion Era, 1882-1943. University of North Carolina Press, 2003. 55 See [figure 7] 44 proclamation declaring the superiority of “Magic Washer” which clearly symbolizes the Chinese

Exclusion Act.

[figure 7] “The Chinese Must Go.” George Dee Magic Washer, 1886 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Chinese_Must_Go_-_Magic_Washer_-_1886_anti- Chinese_US_cartoon.jpg

[Figure 8]56 illustrates one of the least exaggerated depictions of a Chinese laborer within this research; however, the message portrays an ironic tone toward the Chinese during the late

19th century.

56 See [figure 8] 45

[figure 8] “The Only One Barred Out.” Frank Leslie Illustrated Newspaper, vol. 54, April 1, 1882, p.96, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_only_one_barred_out_cph.3b48680.jpg

The United States of America, known as the melting pot of cultures, accepting of all races and people, even communists, nihilists, socialists, Fenians, and hoodlums, refused entry to

Chinese laborers stating that they needed to “draw the line somewhere, you know.”57 Around the seated man from China are boxes and sacks with the words: “Industry,” “Order,” “Peace,” and

“Sobriety.” The illustration, an obvious satire on the American government of the time, provides insight into the priorities of America at the time. Clearly, the lens through which the American populace views the Chinese people has been stained for over a century.

57 Ibid. 46

Following the decades after the Boxer Rebellion and Opium Wars, China experienced excessive amounts of in-fighting, conflicts with Japan, and civil wars that would eventually lead to the rise of the Communist party in 1949. Although Japan was the biggest foreign assailant on

China during this time period, Japan’s claim to the areas in Shandong and northern China were supported by agreements with Britain, France, Italy, and even the warlord government controlling Beijing.58 Additionally, as the Chinese civil war between the Nationalists and the

Communists began to escalate between 1946 to 1949 there was an increasing concern from western nations about the rising power of the Communist party. The United States had allied itself with the Nationalist party and had been providing munitions and financial aid in an attempt to ensure the Nationalists rise to power and prevent the further spread of communism.

Unfortunately for the U.S., the Communist party overthrew the Nationalists in 1949, and forced them to evacuate into Taiwan. The communist victory led to “…an American obsession with the leading (and misleading) question of ‘Who lost China?’”59 This ‘loss’ would weigh heavy on western powers as the wars in Korea and Vietnam led to continued victories for communist powers, thus further fueling the media’s negative representation of those countries – the biggest two being Russia and China. As the Cold War continued China moved from a “Yellow Peril” to a “Red Menace,”60 garnering even more attention and reasons for worry by western powers.

Later, after news of the Cultural Revolution reached foreign shores, of course, people were shocked and appalled to hear what had been happening in China. This added even more reason to

58 Patricia B. Ebrey. The Cambridge Illustrated History of: China. Cambridge University Press, ed. 2, 2010, p. 271. 59 Rana Mitter. “Modernity, Internationalization, and War in the History of Modern China.” The Historical Journal, vol. 48, no. 2, 2005, p. 526, www.jstor.org/stable/4091703. 60 Pankaj Mishra. “Foreword.” Chinese Characters: Profiles of Fast-Changing Lives in a Fast-Changing Land. Edited by Angilee Shah and Jeffrey Wasserstrom, University of California Press, 2012, p. xi. 47 label it dauntingly inscrutable, and because of large gaps in understanding, western countries continued to stereotype China in order to reduce, essentialize, naturalize, and fix the differences61 that set the two countries apart.

During China’s rise as a global power in the late 20th and 21st century the Tiananmen

Square Protests of 1989 and the Olympics of 2008 received exorbitant amounts of western attention. The Tiananmen square incident shocked, not only China, but the entire world, as the

People’s Liberation Army attacked unarmed citizens protesting for a more democratic government. The request for democracy sent signals to western countries that people in China were ready for a change and when these cries for a transparent government were met with tanks and bullets, China may as well have shot through western hopes for like-minded, i.e. democratic, reforms and a China that fell in line with Western ‘world order.’ Backlash from western media sources was severe. “China is a sullen, divided society, held enthralled by a totalitarian clique.

The People’s Republic has a 40-year record of wasted opportunities and wasted lives,”62 wrote the New York Times in 1989. Sixteen years later, this sentiment still persists. “It was a slaughter, and to call it a crackdown is as dismal euphemism as the cowardly media had ever invented…”63 claimed the Washington Post in 2005. For China’s creation of a national image on the global stage, this was one of their largest setbacks, as well as one of the most sobering wakeup calls for western nations; however, the biggest influence the Tiananmen riots had on the western perception of China was the curtain it drew over Chinese history and culture. The event

61 Stuart Hall. “The Spectacle of ‘Other.’ Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. edited by Stuart Hall, Sage Publications, 1997, p. 258. 62 Anthony Lewis. “Abroad at Home; Unhappy Birthday.” The New York Times, 28 September, 1989, http://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/28/opinion/abroad-at-home-unhappy- birthday.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FTiananmen%20Square&action=click&contentCollection=world&re gion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=434&pgtype=collection 63 Keith Fahey. “Tiananmen Went Beyond a ‘Crackdown.’” The Washington Post, 30 April, 2005, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/29/AR2005042901190.html 48 attracted such global attention and dismay that whenever someone spoke of China, the first thing that came to mind was Tiananmen. China and Chinese culture became defined by the event. The political, social, historical, and cultural shroud left by the events at Tiananmen, coupled with an already skewed viewed of the East, caused an even deeper retreat from the search for what it meant to be Chinese.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics was the next turning point in the modern history of China.

The event boasted an unprecedented 4.7 billion worldwide viewers and I would argue a large reason for the Guinness-World-Record-breaking viewership came from a desire to further understand China and its rise on the global stage. Viewers wanted to see the inner workings of a country that had, to that point and, to an extent, still to this day, been shrouded in mystery. This was the most important opportunity for China to show the world there was more to its 5,000- year-old history than what had occurred in the past few decades, and, in a way, it succeeded.

Acclaimed movie critic Roger Ebert stated,

Back to the Olympic ceremony, which inspired some of these thoughts. I have developed

a much-improved vision of China since my grade school days. But on opening night, it

was provided with countless more images and ideas. I thought it was only rhetoric when I

heard that the 21st would be the Chinese Century…It wasn't rhetoric.64

The turn of the 21st century saw the media representing China in new ways; however, old habits die hard and skepticism about the games and China’s role remained. Others had different

64 Roger Ebert. “Zhang Yimou’s Gold Medal.” Roger Ebert’s Journal, 9 August, 2008, https://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/zhang-yimous-gold-medal. 49 thoughts about Beijing’s Opening Ceremony, viewing it with a wary eye. This is what The

Economist had to say about the spectacle.

The display begins with 2,008 soldiers dressed in traditional (civilian) gowns banging in

unison on drums. It sets an uncomfortably martial tone (more than half of the 14,000

performers this evening are troops). The uniformed goose-stepping soldiers who raise the

Olympic flag do not help alleviate this.65

Additionally, 30,000 journalists from all around the world gathered in Beijing to help the world realize what was the “Real China.”66 Never before had so many foreign press been allowed into the country and this was an opportunity to relay news that was previously hidden from the outside. Stories that came out of China during this time polarized discussions on its new role as a rising global player. With a rapidly growing economy, a population of 1.3 billion people, a communist government with capitalist values, and 5,000 years of widely unknown and misunderstood history, China now enters the modern era coupled with the issues of cooperating with countries who view the world from completely opposite perspectives.

This chapter has begun a discussion about the utilization of media toward the influence of public opinion toward China. The images and excerpts from various news sources have shown the representation of both pre- and post-modern China. These depictions are aimed to help the reader build an understanding of the decisions Western news media makes to place China into a subservient position – one of the ‘Other.’ The difference between the early 20th and 21st centuries

65 “The Beijing Olympics: Let the Games Begin.” The Economist, 15 August 2008, http://www.economist.com/node/11912951. 66 Kevin Latham. Media, the Olympics and the Search for the “Real China.” The China Quarterly, no. 197, 2009, p. 25, www.jstor.org/stable/27756421. 50 lies only with the transparency of xenophobic, manipulative rhetoric and the speed of transmission.

The following chapter will build upon the foundation of discrimination against China and

Chinese culture by placing it in a modern context. The chapter will examine trends in translation for the BBC online news service in Chinese and English to uncover the biases with which the media continues using to further Western interests. The chapter will begin with a general investigation into stories chosen to translate between the English and Chinese websites and will then narrow down into stories concerning the US- China Trade War, Hong Kong extradition, and leading into the devolution of relations during the COVID-19 outbreak.

51

Chapter Four: Manipulated in Translation

Contemporary views of China have naturally been shaped through the events over the past one-hundred and fifty years. China’s image within Western media has oscillated from semi- colonized nation to hated enemy to amicable sympathizer to heated adversary, and while its position has improved in recent years, it is no surprise that media hesitates to deviate from antiquated thoughts about China. Antiquated in the sense that Western media uses the most easily recognizable characteristics – i.e. communism, censorship, corruption – to give western readers a definition for “Chinese” identity. While discussing journalistic tendencies towards

China, Punkaj Mishra states that many journalists are setting the writing standards far too low.

At their [journalists] most thoughtful, they might speculate about the timetable for the

introduction of Western style “democracy” in China.

Not surprisingly, their writings reveal very little about how most Chinese live or see

themselves and the world, but very much about how certain ideological assumptions and

prejudices of the ‘West,’ so strengthened by its supposed victory in the Cold War, have

overwhelmed many journalists in Britain and America.67

Clearly, events of the past still warp writers’ views on China. The articles that they publish into mainstream media continue to represent a view of China that comes from a lack of understanding about the country. Subsequently, viewers reading these articles are creating equally biased opinions because of the influence mainstream media has on them.

67 Pankaj Mishra. “Foreword.” Chinese Characters: Profiles of Fast-Changing Lives in a Fast-Changing Land. Edited by Angilee Shah and Jeffrey Wasserstrom, University of California Press, 2012, p. xi. 52

The following portion of this research will, first, take BBC English edition’s China front- page stories and BBC Chinese edition’s front-page stories and compare the topics, headlines, and photographs chosen. The second set of research will follow the same format as the first, but will depict the escalating US-China conflict during the years between late-2018 and mid-2020 from both languages perspective and how misrepresentations of China and Chinese culture led to increased discrimination during the global COVID-19 crisis.

The following first group of photos show a general inclination of the BBC English homepage to prefer stories with negative representations toward China. The selection of these stories conforms to Theo Hermans’ concept of Normativity since it can be safely conjectured that the English edition and Chinese edition of the BBC are targeted toward different audiences.

Their range of stories will likewise differ for the expectations of each social group and if we take said range of possible stories journalist and translators have to translate into English, we will see, more likely than not, the choices made conform to a historically established image of China. This image plays further into Western national agendas of making China an enemy and ensuring a dominant Western sphere of influence and power. Also, in line with Hermans’ research, journalists selecting these stories for translation are also under pressure from their agency to ensure a steady stream of viewership. Traditional norms then fuel the need for stories which complement them. This vicious cycle continues over and over, purposefully engraining deeper a misrepresentation and misconstruction of China and Chinese culture for Western audiences to involuntary, and in some cases voluntarily, absorb.

53

Pre- and Early 2018 Media Depictions

The ways in which information is presented on the BBC homepages represents a deliberate act of translatory selection. When writing about news translation in her co-authored book Translation in Global News, Susan Bassnett states, “The assembly of a newspaper follows the same pattern as that identified by Tymoczko and Gentzler for translation: it is a deliberate and conscious act of selection, involving the structuring, assembling, and fabricating of information into a format that will satisfy the expectations of readers.”68 The discussion of the following four figures will examine their position within the BBC English and Chinese homepages to give evidence to their overt positioning of China as an enemy. Each of the figures will also help to establish the media atmosphere concerning China prior to the US-China Trade

War beginning mid-2018.

[Figure 9]69, [Figure 10]70, [Figure 11]71, and [figure 12]72 show both the Chinese and

English versions of the BBC’s front pages on four different dates. The topics between the

English and Chinese front-pages differ to suit the needs of the reading audience. The English versions have a pattern of selecting stories that represent the modern stereotypical view of China as purely economic, boasting in nature, and in opposition to the West. A selection of these topics use what Stuart Hall calls an intentional approach of representation.73 In the intentional approach, the author uses his or her own language to reflect their own ideas on the world. In this

68 Esperanca Bielsa and Susan Bassnett. “Power, language, and translation.” Translation in Global News. Routledge: New York, 2009, p. 13-14. 69 See [figure 9]. 70 See [figure 10]. 71 See [figure 11]. 72 See [figure 12]. 73 Stuart Hall. “Introduction.” Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. edited by Stuart Hall, Sage Publications, 1997, p. 25.

54 case, as the author works for a larger company, the BBC, the author is then, overtly, expressing the beliefs for the organization as a whole. This directly ties into Andre Lefevere’s two factors of a translation system: 1) the professionals and 2) the patronage. Of course, the responsibility of representing meaning does not solely lie with the professionals, but more importantly, with how the readers apply meaning to what they read. The patterns of topics throughout these four front- pages, then, impose a bias that readers covertly absorb – a bias that superficially represents the elements of China that the West fears and scorns the most. On the other hand, what is depicted in the Chinese versions of the text, while, at times, can be seen as anti-Western, portrays the cultural aspects of China. An advantage the BBC Chinese version is that it moves away from the

Western-centered view on China and allows for a China-centered view on topics directly related to it. Another benefit to the Chinese version is that it does not need to follow the same censorship restrictions as news coming directly from China.

[Figure 9]’s cover story is, “China show off large amphibious plane.” Under the cover story is an article about the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Almost two decades after the incident western news media still finds it necessary to remind viewers of the catastrophic event that shaped contemporary views on China. The publication date of this article is of importance as well – December 23rd. For all intents and purposes, an unremarkable day. If the article were published on June 4th -- the anniversary of Tiananmen -- it would serve as a reminder of the event, but here it serves solely as subjective representation. The story next to Tiananmen we can see the words “fear” and “Chinese” used within the same sentence, sending a clear message to readers. The Chinese front-page for the same date only displays the article about the amphibious plane in common, but even this article is titled much more objectively. The Chinese states, “鯤龍

首飛：中國國產兩栖飛機用途是什麽.“ Roughly translated, the titles states, “The Aquatic 55

Dragon’s First Flight: What are the uses for China’s amphibious aircraft.” This title attempts to bring into question the uses of such a large amphibious aircraft from an objective standpoint, as opposed to using presenting an insincere tone.

[figure 9] “BBC English and Chinese Versions: China Front Page.” BBC News World: Asia, China, 25 December, 2017, accessed 25 December, 2017, screenshot by Vadim Rubin, http://www.bbc.com/news/world/asia/china. 56

On the other hand, the cover story for the Chinese version describes elementary school students rallying against celebrating Western holidays. Titled, “聖誕到來：中國小學生卻在喊

‘拒絕洋節,’“ (Christmas is almost here: Elementary students are calling for a refusal of Western

Holidays?) the sentiment is inherently anti-Western. The information being provided is from within Chinese elementary schools encouraging students to celebrate traditional Chinese holidays. The article has more to do with celebrating the religious aspects of Christmas, not allowed under the Communist party. This view comes from within China and allows readers to explore aspects of Chinese society not represented in the English version of the BBC. This article strives to present information from a China-centered perspective, as opposed to seeing it as an outsider as Paul Cohen states in his book Discovering History of China: American Historical

Writing on the Recent Chinese Past. As he states, one of the overarching characteristics of how the West views China originates from a Western-dominated tradition.74 History has predominantly been written by Western countries and, of course, a Western perspective. This history poses threats to cohesion between these two parts of the world because of the inherent bias through which the West understands China.

Associate Professor of Anthropology, F. Allan Hanson, coincides with Cohen’s Western- centric ideology. While Hanson’s perspective comes from the position of an anthropologist and not a sinologist like Cohen, his theories about evaluative relativism share many similarities with

Cohen. Hanson lays bare five points for judging other cultures.

74 Paul Cohen. Discovering History in China: American Historical Writing on the Recent Chinese Past. Columbia University Press, New York, 1984. 57

1. All evaluations or judgements that men make are made according to standards.

2. Such standards, and hence their derivative judgements, may vary in different

cultures.

3. Therefore there exist no standards (of truth, beauty, goodness, humor, and so

on) which are valid for all men at all times and all places.

4. Therefore we should refrain from judging the truth, beauty, goodness, humor,

etc. of acts and artifacts in other cultures according to our standards.

5a. We should refrain entirely from judging what happens in other cultures.

5b. We should judge what happens in another culture according to the standards

of that culture.75

We can see that the English homepage’s headline story, “China shows off large amphibious plane,” does exactly what Hanson strives for all cultures to avoid; however, the news we see pertaining to China inherently places judgements from the perspective of the West. Hanson also goes on to say that the only judgements which people should make should come from within that judged culture. Articles liked “聖誕到來：中國小學生卻在喊‘拒絕洋節,’“ (Christmas is almost here: Elementary students are calling for a refusal of Western Holidays?), if translated and appropriated within the English BBC website, would help to bring the Western populace one step closer toward a fundamental understanding of what it means to be Chinese.

The cover story in [Figure 10]’s English version is titled, “Trump accuses China of allowing N Korea oil.” Trump says China was caught “red-handed” (not sure if the pun is

75 F. Allan Hanson. “Judging Other Cultures.” Meaning in Culture. Routledge, New York, p. 28. 58 intended) breaking UN sanctions. If we consider Chomsky’s fifth filter of Mass Media, “The

Common Enemy,” this headline combines, arguably, the two countries with which the United

States is most at odds. This headline manages to combine three nations together in an accusatory standoff – “Leader of the Free World” vs. Communism. The article further stereotypes China as the culprit for any wrongdoings in Asia. Stuart Hall breaks down the roll of stereotyping and signifying practices into four categories: “(a) the construction of ‘otherness’ and exclusion; (b) stereotyping and power; (c) the role of fantasy; and (d) fetishism.”76 The accusation against

China furthers Hall’s points (a) and (b). The article effectively creates an Us vs. Them mentality by signaling out China as the sole reason for N. Korea’s acquisition of oil and effectively supporting another communist regime. Point (b) coincides with the idea that

translation may also involve more sinister forms of textual manipulation that they term

falsification and refusal of information…a translator can add to a text or, perhaps a more

frequent act, leave out parts of it.” “The strategy of omission, which is extremely

common, effectively prevents target readers from ever having full access to the source.77

As we will see in the Chinese version of this story, the information portrays a completely different picture of the North Korean oil issue.

76 Stuart Hall and Sean Nixon. “The Spectacle of ‘Other.’” Representation, ed. 2. Sage: L.A., 2013, p. 247. 77 Esperanca Bielsa and Susan Bassnett. “Power, language, and translation.” Translation in Global News. Routledge: New York, 2009, p. 7-8. 59

[figure 10] “BBC English and Chinese Version: China Front Page.” BBC News World: Asia, China, 31 December, 2017, accessed 31 December, 2017, screenshot by Vadim Rubin, http://www.bbc.com/news/world/asia/china.

60

On the Chinese BBC homepage, the article pertaining to the smuggling of oil to North

Korea appears below the main story. It similarly discusses the smuggling of oil into North Korea mentioned on the English homepage; however, the Chinese version article investigates in detail as to whether the ships smuggling oil are from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Russia. The article is titled, “朝鮮石油走私：中港台還是俄國的船隻之謎” (North Korean smuggling of petroleum: the riddle of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Russia’s ships). The stark contrast between the two stories is blatantly clear. While the English version makes a direct attack toward

China, the Chinese article, about the same issue, takes a broader look at the issue of stolen petroleum. The Chinese article immediately begs the question in the headline if any of the four mentioned countries supplied North Korea with oil. The stark omission of information between the Chinese and English version of the story reaffirms the idea of power within translation.

While the English version attempts to only serve the needs of the Western populace by pushing

China further to the periphery, the Chinese news article provides an in-depth analysis of the possibilities of numerous countries involvement in the issue.

The cover story of [figure 10] reports on a topic dissimilar to its English counterpart. The article, titled “尼泊爾珠峰新禁令爲何被指 ‘歧視殘疾人’” (Why new restrictions at Nepal’s

Mt. Everest are being called discriminatory toward those with handicaps), is a piece about the new restrictions about climbing Mt. Everest and their discrimination toward people with handicaps. The article goes into detail about numerous people with disabilities around Asia who have climbed mountains with elevations over 5000 meters and their disapproving disappointment of the new regulations. It provides a perspective of Asia which most people rarely care to pay any mind and while the English version of the BBC does report on this story, it does not appear any on the homepage of the English page. 61

In the English version of [Figure 11] the cover story describes the long-disputed Senkaku islands that are politically fought over between China and Japan and is titled “China warship sails near disputed islands.” The quarrel between Japan and China particularly affects the West because of the alliance between western powers and Japan. If China were to intervene militarily to lands claimed by Japan, western powers may be required to act. We see again the fear of

Western interests being invaded by an “enemy.”

[figure 11] “BBC English and Chinese Version: China Front Page.” BBC News World: Asia, China, 12 January, 2018, accessed 12 January, 2018, screenshot by Vadim Rubin, http://www.bbc.com/news/world/asia/china. 62

Ironically, the Chinese cover story discusses the possibility of increasing diplomatic visits between Taiwan and America. Taiwan carries a significant meaning for people within China since they view Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China. Accordingly, friendly relations with Taiwan may have larger repercussions for America than the island disputes with

Japan, but the English version chooses to leave Taiwan out. This is most likely due to a large portion of the American population not knowing of Taiwan's existence, let alone America's diplomatic ties with Taiwan; however, understanding the history and politics of Taiwan plays a large part in understanding China and Chinese culture. Choosing to omit it from the English cover page furthers ignorance of understanding.

[Figure 12] features the cover story of the Sanchi oil tanker that crashed off the shore of

China, titled “Bodies found in tanker search off China.” Like figures 9 -11, [figure 12] also features a cover story where China is presented front and center. Each of the figures contain the word ‘China’ associated with being presumptuous or encroaching on political rights; however, this article now creates a link between China and corpses. The article itself discusses how

Chinese workers are making “100% effort” to save all passengers aboard the ship. Even though the ship itself was sailing from Iran to South Korea, this did not stop the article from labeling the disaster as the “China tanker fire.”78

78 BBC. “China Tanker Fire: Bodies found as Sanchi burns, one week on.” 63

[figure 12] “BBC English and Chinese Version: China Front Page.” BBC News World: Asia, China, 14 January, 2018, accessed 14 January, 2018, screenshot by Vadim Rubin, http://www.bbc.com/news/world/asia/china.

Under the cover story, there is another article about human rights violation, this time with a Catholic priest being detained. Within a two-week span, two reports were written about

Chinese citizens detained. The repetition of similar stories about China creates an impression for 64 readers that these are the most important stories happening in China without giving any other alternatives. Repetition of the established negative representation of China only works further to solidify the national image the West has of China. Continued exposure to recurring stereotypes leads to a ‘regime of representation.’79 Within this regime, the target race and culture finds itself being repressed by another group of people, typically those who wish to do the target culture harm or place themselves into a higher position of power.

In contrast to the English cover story, the Chinese cover story, titled “淘寶網被列美國黑

名單 阿里巴巴指 貿易保護,” (Taobao gets placed on America’s black list, Alibaba receives

American trade protection) is an article discussing America’s blacklisting of Taobao, one of the largest online markets in China, and Alibaba’s continued support in the American market. While

Alibaba is a well-known brand across the world, with a stock price of USD$253.92 per share on the New York Stock Exchange (higher than even Microsoft – USD$203.97 per share)80, Taobao remains a mystery to many Americans. If English news sources could further examine China- based companies such as Taobao, it may give western readers more of an idea as to how to formulate China in their own vision.

The images represented above have set the stage for what will become the most turbulent years between East – West relations since the post-World War II Cold War. The reason I find it necessary to add “post-World War II” prior to the Cold War is because the years 2018 to the present have been considered a new Cold War between the United States and China. The contempt that has accumulated between these two countries has been expressed through media representations of China, rhetoric from American leadership, and has led to racism and

79 Stuart Hall and Sean Nixon. “The Spectacle of ‘Other.’” Representation, ed. 2. Sage: L.A., 2013, p. 247. 80 MSN. Data from Refinitiv. July 29, 2020. 65 discrimination toward those of Chinese descent during the COVID-19 outbreak that has not been seen since the early 20th century in America.

Late-2018 to Mid-2020 Media Depictions

These three events have had a vastly negative impact on US China relations over the past few years. The US China Trade War has had enormous impacts on economies all around the world, not to mention China and the US. The trade war is a result of the Trump Administration’s idea that the US needs to “get back” at China for “unfair trade practices and their effects.”81

Since then, millions of dollars in tariffs have been placed on imported and exported goods from the US and China; the image of China has continued to deteriorate in the Western image because of justifications and accusations the United States makes toward China; both countries have suffered extreme economic losses which could have been avoided if more cohesion was on the political agenda. Even at the behest of economists to avoid a trade war due to the fact it “would do more harm then good to the economy of the United States,”82 Trump persisted. The language used throughout the BBC English homepage has connected with the norms and standards of those within power. Andre Lefevere and Theo Hermans ideas of normativity and professionals vs. patronage help to understand why the news continues to select stories that benefit its own course of action and lead to further separation of these two powers.

81 Ana Swanson. "Trump's Trade War With China Is Officially Underway". The New York Times. Accessed 02 July 2020. 82 Shrutee Sarkar(March 14, 2018). "Economists united: Trump tariffs won't help the economy". Reuters. Retrieved August 26, 2019. 66

In early 2019, the Hong Kong Extradition Bill, a.k.a. Fugitive Offenders and Mutual

Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019, rocked Asia. The effects were even felt in western countries, particularly the United States. The United States has

“more than 1,300 U.S. firms…and approximately 85,000 American residents in Hong Kong.”83

“The U.S. trade surplus with Hong Kong is the single largest with a U.S. trading partner, with a surplus in 2017 of [USD]$32.6 billion, owing largely to Hong Kong imports of American aircraft and spacecraft, electric machinery, pearls, gold, diamonds, works of art, meat, fruits and nuts.”84

After the extradition bill, the U.S. fear of losing the biggest economic trading partner became very real. The bill has implications of removing the “One Country, Two Systems” policy and eroding democratic ties with Hong Kong. As such, Chomsky’s idea of the common enemy combined with Cohen and Hanson’s theories of seeing cultures from the perspective of that culture itself come into play. News stories have consistently presented information from the standpoint of the West and have selected stories to translate and place on the homepage to further nationalist agendas.

Finally, the pandemic with which the world is still reeling, COVID-19. Perhaps some of the most xenophobic, discriminatory, and racist language has risen from this period. Trump himself has consistently accused China of creating the virus, spreading the virus around the world, and covering up the truth. Trump has even verbally attacked Chinese American reporters.8586 This type of national agenda and behavior has led to attacks on Chinese Americans,

83 “U.S. Relations with Hong Kong.” U.S. State Department. https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-hong-kong/. 84 Ibid. 85 A reporter asks Trump why it matters that the United States has done more COVID tests than other countries when countless deaths and cases are rising. Trump simply responds with “Ask China” and walks off. Alix Culbertson. “‘Ask China’: Trump clashes with Chinese-American reporter after briefing.” Sky News. 12 May 2020. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/ask-china-trump-clashes-with-chinese-american-reporter-at- briefing/ar-BB13XkNc. Accessed 05 July 2020. 86 Bottom left article in [figure 19]. 67 expulsion of international students, and even the removal of a Chinese consulate in Houston,

Texas. The virus has polarized the West on topics ranging from wearing masks to immigration and the affects of this Western cultural erosion will doubtlessly continue for years.

The following images of the Chinese BBC homepage and the English BBC’s homepage of the China section will depict the media representations from the American perspective using two different languages. These images are taken from the BBC during the tumultuous period between late-2018 to the mid-2020s.

The English homepage of [figure 13] has a strong focus on the Hong Kong extradition with six stories focusing on the issue. The page even has a section dedicated to stories from

Hong Kong and from a cultural representation standpoint, this is a gold mine for the West. The opportunity to undermine China’s authority through images of riot police and bystanders being beaten or threatened. The description of the article states, “Riot police use batons to repel protestors on the 22nd anniversary of the city’s handover to China.” The sentence takes an anniversary, commonly thought of as a joyous occasion, and flips it on its head by depicting people being beaten by riot police. Compare this with the Chinese headline story, “歷史性會

面：特朗普 ‘三八綫‘ 握手金正恩” (A historic meeting: Trump shakes hands with Kim Jung Un at the 38th parallel). Although news outlets in the United States and UK did report on Trumps visit to North Korea, we see here that the BBC has chosen to not even display this news on their

English homepage. Why? As this research discussed in the cover story for [figure 10], North

Korea and China are the two regimes the United States despises the most. One an affluent, rapidly rising communist nation and the other, a communist nation with nuclear capabilities supposedly aimed at the United States and the free world. 68

[figure 13] “BBC English and Chinese Version: China Front Page.” BBC News World: Asia, China, 1 July, 2019, accessed 9 February, 2020, screenshot by Vadim Rubin, http://www.bbc.com/news/world/asia/china.

The smaller stories on the English homepage include two reports on the trade war. One is the restart of trade talks between the US and China and the other is trade talks between China and Japan. Titled, The juxtaposition between these two stories is fascinating. In “US and China agree to restart trade talks” readers are meant to feel a sense of relief that an agreement to the trade war is at hand; however, directly to the right of this story we see an immediate change of 69 heart. Titled, “Japan and China bolster ties amid trade war fears,” the report discusses how China has chosen to look to the East as opposed to the West as trade talks continue. The usage of ‘amid trade talk fears’ not only promotes the idea that the trade war will continue into the unseen future, but also instills fear into those who perhaps are not familiar with the status of the trade war. The Chinese homepage also reports on stories regarding the trade war, but they take a more objective stance. Articles, 1) “習特會 重啓貿易談判，特朗普允許美國公司向華爲供貨”

(Trump and Xi restarted trade talks, Trump allows US companies to buy from Huawei) and 2)

“美國大選：‘中國威脅論‘ 何以成爲共識” (US presidential election: how ‘the threat of China’ has become the consensus) bring in discussion of 1) allowing trade with Huawei and providing hope of the possibility that both countries can reunite and 2) discusses how the idea that China is a threat has spread through each of the candidates in the US presidential election. In Chinese, the titles to each article infer more positive emotions than the English counterparts. The English equivalent of Chinese article 1) is titled “US Huawei supplier resumes some shipments.” The omission of Trump allowing US companies to buy supplies diminishes the positivity of the text.

Moreover, the addition of ‘some’ in the English text indicates that the US will not allow a complete opening of supply from Huawei. This message still carries an air of distrust toward the

Chinese company.

[Figure 14] brings up another topic similar to that in [figure 11], Taiwan. The cover story for the Chinese homepage is titled, “郭臺銘退黨如何攪動 2020 台灣總統選戰” (How

Terry Guo’s withdrawal from the 2020 Taiwan Presidential election has stirred things up). As the title suggests, it discusses the 2020 Taiwan presidential election and one of the potential candidates. Of course, the English homepage makes no mention of the election or Taiwan. In fact, the only mention of Taiwan on the BBC homepage throughout this period is about the F-16 70 fighter plane deal between Taiwan and the US.87 Taiwan is simply being used as a chess piece in

Western media’s game to undermine China. Instead of educating the West about one of the most successful democratic systems in Asia, the media only uses Taiwan when it benefits their own interests of demoralizing China.

[figure 14] “BBC English and Chinese Version: China Front Page.” BBC News World: Asia, China, 12 September, 2019, accessed 23 March, 2020, screenshot by Vadim Rubin, http://www.bbc.com/news/world/asia/china.

87 BBC. “China threatens sanctions over US-Taiwan F-16 fighter plane deal.” BBC, 21 August 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49420283. Accessed 08 July 2020. 71

Compare this with the lead story on the English homepage, “HK tennis tournament postponed due to protests.” News about the protests in Hong Kong continues to rage on in the

English section of the news. The section dedicated to news about the protests still lingers at the bottom of the page. We see the ever-present story of Tiananmen to the right of the cover story.

As mentioned in the analysis of [figure 9], Western media consistently feels the need to remind its readers about the atrocities to democratic protests in China and thus periodically finds the need to report on a story that feeds into the ‘destruction of Western values’ narrative. The caption for this story raises even more eyebrows: “The image of one man in the way of a column of tanks has become a symbol of peaceful resistance.” There is no doubt about the validity of this statement. The skepticism comes from the conscious choice omission. This research has yet to find headlines reporting on the other forms of commemoration for peaceful protests. The Civil

Rights movement? Or even the forceful removal of Native Americans that led to the Trail of

Tears? However, the media finds it imperative to highlight quashed democratic protests in China.

As Hermans said, “…the choices which the translator makes simultaneously highlight the exclusions, the paths that were open but that were not chosen.” An article titled “Chinese trespasser at Mar-a-Lago found guilty” even makes it into the news over the presidential election in Taiwan. The article goes to length to identify the race of the trespasser as Chinese for added effect. Also included on the homepage is an article entitled, “Trump delays tariff hikes on

Chinese Goods.” The reason for the delay is explained as Trump’s “good will,” showing the

United States president’s ability for philanthropy toward China – but do not trespass on his property. We see here that the lengths taken by the media to inject as much derogatory information about China as possible actually leads to oxymoronic effects. We see this here in 72

[figure 14] and we have also seen this in [figure 13] with the hope of restarting trade talks directly adjacent to a story about fear over the Trade War.

[Figure 15] cover story continues to report on the protests in Hong Kong. No information about elections in Taiwan. No information about the nuclear weapons test in North Korea, as we will see in the Chinese homepage. Instead, a huge caricature head of Xi JinPing on an ominous dark red background with “CCP’s Bad Boys” on the left, including: NBA and characters from the American satirical TV series “South Park” and “CCP’s Good Boys” on the right, including: video game company, Blizzard, Apple, Facebook, Cathay Pacific, and Disney. In large white capital letters, a caption says, “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.” The watchlist includes

Microsoft, Adidas, Tesla, Coca-Cola, Netflix, and Google. If this was not meant to strike fear into the hearts of the Western populace, I am not sure what is. Western citizen who have received a high school education have surely read at least two novels by George Orwell: Animal

Farm and 1984. The western populace has been indoctrinated to fear “Big Brother.” He has always been the enemy of free thinking and free thought. Dystopian societies need him to function; they need him to oppress the unwilling and unknowing population. (Interestingly enough, this image has been seemingly pulled from the BBC website and most other media sources. A “Bing” or “Google” search for the title of this article, “Six months on: Beijing’s Hong

Kong dilemma,” shows a different picture used. Likewise, an image search only results in this picture appearing in a news article by “Yahoo” and on Twitter.) The utilization of this image is a deliberate attempt to implant fear in the western populace, utilizing symbolic imagery and language which incorporates ingrained ideals the West has had since childhood. Using what

Stuart Hall calls the “constructionist approach,” Western education systems have constructed an image of Big Brother and authoritarian regimes. They have given these words and symbols 73 meanings with which the media here have used to their advantage. The remaining stories on the

English homepage show the most neutrality of any articles we have seen thus far: “China state

TV pulls live Arsenal game,” “Trump halts new tariffs in US China trade war,” “China gets

Nintendo Switch but lacks games.”

74

[figure 15] “BBC English and Chinese Version: China Front Page.” BBC News World: Asia, China, 15 December, 2019, accessed 22 March, 2020, screenshot by Vadim Rubin, http://www.bbc.com/news/world/asia/china.

[Figure 15]’s Chinese homepage depicts another article regarding North Korea: “朝鮮核

試驗：金正恩給特朗普 ‘聖誕大禮‘” (North Korean nuclear tests: Kim Jung Un’s special

Christmas present to Trump). This article analyzes in detail the reasons for North Korea’s test of nuclear powers and questions America’s role in the nuclear sanction talks. Written in mid-

December, the article begs the questions if the US and North Korea can reach a nuclear agreement. It is surprising such a crucial piece of news does not find itself as the cover story of the English homepage. For the sake of clarity, this research also examined the homepage of the

BBC itself, not just the China section. The cover story featured a woman who passed away due to a volcano in New Zealand and the US-North Korea nuclear arms story appears as a sub-story, on the same level of relevance as a video about an eagle attacking an octopus.

Underneath the cover story are two stories about the US China trade war and a slew of other stories that report on significant information around the world. The difference between the level of reporting in the English version of the BBC and the Chinese version shock and surprise. 75

The reporting seen in [figure 9] to [figure 15] show a stark contrast between the level of transparency and neutrality. In this regard, the next group of figures also share similar qualities with reporting on the COVID-19 virus.

In the English version of [figure 16] President Trump receives a front row seat. His one of many theories regarding the coronavirus and China appears as the cover story: “Trump stands by China lab origin theory for virus.” The excerpt under the headline reads, “US intelligence says it is not clear how the outbreak began but Mr Trump suggest it came from a lab.” In the headline and excerpt, it is unclear if the article aims to provide details regarding the possibility of the virus coming from a lab in China, support Trump’s claims, or ridicule his unsubstantiated accusation. What we do know is that the BBC chose to let this story lead the headlines for China.

Regardless of whether people believe his illegitimate claims, the news is meant to provide information regarding issues around the world. This report will unconsciously sway public opinion against China and lead to even further retaliation against China. Trump supporters, some of whom are particularly unknowledgeable about foreign affairs, will take this type of story as truth.

76

[figure 16] “BBC English and Chinese Version: China Front Page.” BBC News World: Asia, China, 2 May, 2020, accessed 2 May, 2020, screenshot by Vadim Rubin, http://www.bbc.com/news/world/asia/china.

The side stories all revolve around China and the coronavirus. The other stories: “Are

‘anti-virus’ cars in China just a gimmick?” “The man trying to stop the virus (and fix China’s image,” “Coronavirus-themed game banned in China,” and “Coronavirus: ‘China is not the enemy of the US’” all appear to try and salvage the worsening situation between the US and

China during the pandemic. 77

The Chinese homepage shows the diverse issues facing the globe during the pandemic.

From Spain to North Korea to the UK and Australia, the stories covered feature information about the virus from all around the world, the responses the virus, and potential implications. The cover story, “全球主要疫情國家開始陸續解封 程度步伐各異” (Major epidemic countries around the world have started to lift quarantine bans in succession: progress has varied) describes the situation in Spain after they lifted the quarantine ban. The picture shows a crowd of mask- less Spaniards engaging in outdoor activities. The article also discusses other countries hit hard by the virus and their progress with lifting the quarantine ban. The rest of the eight articles all deal with various counties and issues dealing with the virus. A few of the most notable are: “英

國疫情影響大學財政 中國留學生或銳減” (The epidemic in the UK has affected university finances: Chinese students may severely decrease) and “新冠疫情后引發大餓荒的可能性和大

衆囤糧的必要性” (The possibility of a great famine after the pandemic is over and the importance of food provisions). The information provided in these stories gives a holistic view of the virus. The only time China came up was in the discussion with the effect of the virus on

Chinese students in the UK.

In fact, the Chinese version of the BBC homepage portrayed even more information regarding the world’s status in response to the coronavirus, that it provided even more information than the main BBC homepage. Like [figure 15], I have also attached an image of the

BBC’s main homepage to [figure 16] and it does not include the range of stories that we see in the Chinese homepage. The English main homepage even includes an article of the increasing tensions between the US and China. It asks, “What’s behind Trump’s new strategy on China?”

The question places the conflict between both countries solely in the hands of the US. The 78 question does not bring Xi Jinping into the equation at all. The omission of China leadership speaks louder than if it had been included.

The final figure in this research brings one of the most prominent contrasts between the

English and Chinese homepages of the BBC. The focus is again on the coronavirus and China, but this time more negative than the last. The lead article, “Wuhan plans to virus test 11 million residents,” seems harmless enough, but it is the information that follow which really catches the eye. Two bullet points below the article read “Wuhan in first virus cluster since end of lockdown” and “A dazed city emerges from the harshest of lockdowns.” The language used in the second sentence seems to strongly oppose the type of lockdown China went through, even though evidence from experts has shown its efficiency. Diction such as ‘a dazed city’ and

‘harshest of lockdowns’ carry a disparaging tone, as if to say what was done to the city of Wuhan was inhumane or immoral. It is common knowledge that the West, especially the United States, was strongly opposed to lockdowns, wearing masks, and sanitizing at the onset of the pandemic.

Considering this point of view, it comes as no surprise that there has been an overall negative position taken about the lockdown in Wuhan.

79

[figure 17] “BBC English and Chinese Version: China Front Page.” BBC News World: Asia, China, 13 May, 2020, accessed 27 June, 2020, screenshot by Vadim Rubin, http://www.bbc.com/news/world/asia/china.

The Chinese homepage cover story presents a story that should be displayed front and center on the English homepage. Titled “BBC 專訪前白宮中國主任何瑞嗯：中美關係脫離競

爭，進入對抗狀態” (BBC’s exclusive interview with the former White House China Director

Ryan Hass: US China relations are moving from being competitors and entering a state of 80 opposition) the article asks question after question about how the United States and China got to this point of contention. One answer Hass gives in response to how COVID-19 has affected the

US China relations, he states, “這的確是各種壓力長久累積的結果，並不是由於 covid-19，

我認為兩國有這個共識。美國和中國處在一個「一山不能容二虎」的鬥爭當中”88 (This is the result of accumulated and extended pressures, not covid-19. I believe both countries share in this sentiment. America and China are stuck in a “this town ain’t big enough for the both us” mentality.) This cover story comes along with other articles like: “疫情之後中國會不會成爲永

久‘戰狼‘” and “白宮記者會再起風波 特朗普讓 CBS 華僑女記者去 ’問中國.‘” The descriptiveness included in the titles and the relevance of these stories are exactly the type of stories that will aid in the creation of a new type of China in the eyes of the West. These stories include real and relevant information regarding China and are consistently more neutral in terms of the discussion of China. If relations are ever to return to normal between these two nations, the public opinion must change. In order for the public opinion to change, the news must do its part to change the dynamic, change the dialogue, and remove the unconscious and conscious bias representations of China in the media.

These media representations of China are giving way to misconstrued beliefs as to what it means to be Chinese. In this modern age of free-flowing information from a cornucopia of sources most readers do not even take the time to read an entire news story from start to finish, but rely on headlines and taglines to absorb meaning from a story. With headlines that include language such as “China shows off…,” “China warships…,” and “Chinese activist jailed…,”

88 馮兆音. “BBC 專訪前白宮中國主任何瑞恩：中美關係脫離競爭，進入對抗狀態. BBC, 12 May 2020. https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/world-52595793.

81 how can the common populace form an unbiased opinion of a place that has seemed mysterious and unknown for such a long time. Sociologist and Chinese studies professor David Fasenfet states, “Routinely, political rhetoric in the United States rails against China as that great enemy waiting to dominate this society, and at the same time when China’s economy slows down or there is a fear China is falling into a recession, the response in the economies of Europe and the

US is to create great uncertainty and anxiety.”89 If publications and news corporations could follow what Paul Cohen calls a “China-centered” approach, where news is taken from the perspective of someone within China, as opposed to seeing China from a “Western-centered” approach, this generation may be able tear down the “anxiety” and fear for what is constantly being purported as an enemy and threat. This generation may still be able to ignite discussions for more honest reporting and discover what life is really like in the “middle kingdom.”

89 David Fasenfet. “Introduction.” China: Promise or Threat?. Brill, 2017, p. x. 82

Chapter Five: Conclusion

Edward Said introduced the world to Orientalism in 1978. He was one of the first intellectuals to provide the world with an in-depth analysis of how Western countries exert dominating influence on Asia, or ‘the Orient.’ His research paved the way to countless more fields of research into postcolonial studies. The scope of his research extended into branches of study that now can cross boundaries between cultures of the West and East, specifically translation. Further inquiries into cultural translation studies and postcolonial translation research have been led by world renowned intellectuals: Gayatri Spivak, Tejaswini Niranjana, Susan

Bassnett, Harish Trivedi, Vicente Rafael, Paul A. Cohen, among many, many more. This research intends to build upon the research and many accomplishments in this field to create another perspective, necessary and pertinent for the 21st century.

The speech given by Kishnore Mahbubani continues to reverberate in my mind. His statement about China and India being the largest economies in the world since year 1 to year

1820 jolted my realization regarding the brevity of Western global dominance. He also describes the inevitability of history’s longest running largest economies returning to their historical position atop the global economic structure.90 China has progressed remarkably over the last two decades. In a span of a few years, China climbed its way to the second largest economy, only behind the United States. The only other East Asian country to develop so rapidly was Japan

90 Kishore Mahbubani. “How the West Can Adapt to a Rising Asia.” YouTube, uploaded by TED, 6 Sep. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsJWs6Z6eNs 83 after its opening in the late 19th century; however, as we have seen throughout this research, the

West and the United States in particular, are sensitive to threats to their established world order.

The figures and analyses of said figures work provide evidence for this fact. Each figure provides more insight into the ways the West represents China. The BBC has worked as a portal for translation in which we can see the deliberate use of language power dynamics. Within each iteration of the English BBC homepage, language has been used to protect what Vicente Rafael calls, “our way of life.” While not including himself in this equation, this ‘our way of life’ refers to the Western world order.

Current US relations with China have deteriorated to the point where Western media outlets have considered this a second Cold War. Although this point has been mentioned earlier in the research, the importance of this label merits a final analysis. The more rhetoric we see surrounding US-China relations as pertaining to a ‘war,’ the more reasonable appropriate retaliation against the opposing party may seem. During the process of writing this thesis, the

United States has closed China’s US consulate, threatened to remove international students, jailed members of the People’s Liberation Army under the pretext of spying against America, revoked Hong Kong’s special status with trade relations, amongst a slew of other symbolic decisions. As American aggression rages on, the media does its part to follow suit. The English stories continuing to report on stories which play to the favor of politicians and large organizations in the United States, while the Chinese version consistently reports on the implications of such actions and provides information about the status of students, COVID-19, and discrimination.

The differences between English and Chinese content proves the lengths Western media goes to devalue the image of China. Just like the Cold War of the mid-20th century, this Cold War is 84 also being fought through proxy, through the channels of media and mistranslation. According to

Vicente Rafael, language is being weaponized and “the ability to translate is deemed “an essential war fighting skill…” Rafael goes so far to say that the very idea of learning “critical need” languages, such as Russian, Chinese, and Arabic, serve the sole purpose of protecting the

United States and its beliefs. In this context, translation serves the needs of the State, not the need of sharing a culture and bringing two distinctly different parts of the world together. He brings forth four assumptions about American English in the realm of translation. (1) Language is a means for human control because it conveys ideas and intentions, (2) languages are inherently unequal and are placed into a hierarchy where English reigns supreme “for conveying all things exceptionally American to the citizens of the country and the rest of the world,” (3) all languages should be reduced and assimilable into the American English lingua franca, (4) this reduction “is precisely the task of translation.” “Translation is pressed…to secure America’s borders even as it globalizes the nation’s influence.”91 These ideals have never been truer than during the Trump administration.

During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump’s premise was to “Make America Great

Again.” These four words screamed for a reduction in globalization, reliance on international trade and labor, immigration, and strategic geopolitical ties. As the United States has continued down a path of 19th century and pre-WWII isolationism, the media entered its own campaign of placing non-western countries and cultures on the periphery. The twelve images from the BBC homepages and their subsequent analyses presented in this research provide evidence of this change. The conscious effort to relegate China to the periphery, the intention of creating an

91 Vicente L. Rafael. Motherless Tongues: The Insurgency of Language amid Wars of Translation. Duke University Press, Durham and London, 2016, p.102.. 85 enemy due to fear of displacement, the increased aggression toward a country which, if amicable relations were established, could aid in the creation of a more advanced society, has been the goal of western media outlets for the past three years.

The novel coronavirus has also increased animosity between the United States and China.

Once the virus became a global pandemic, the Trump Administration wasted no time pointing figures at China. He decisively used language aimed at discriminating and marginalizing not only China, but Chinese Americans, as well. [Figure 18] even shows an image where trump as crossed out the word “corona” and replaced it with “Chinese.”

[figure 18] “Donald Trump renaming the coronavirus the ‘Chinese Virus.’ Google Images. Accessed 02 July 2020.

When this type of racist language toward, not only China, but the Chinese people in general, comes from the highest authority within a country, there is an obvious inherent bias within the 86 system. Fears of the unknown disease combined with the racist and xenophobic rhetoric in the media about wearing masks, the origins of the virus being a conspiracy concocted by China, the virus being a bioweapon, have had serious effects on Chinese Americans. There have been reports of American citizens of Asian descent, some not even of Chinese descent, being assaulted, beaten, and verbally abused.92 What if the national rhetoric were different? What if, instead of pointing fingers and playing games of tit for tat, the world’s largest economy could work together with the second? Perhaps the entire course of the virus may have been different.

Perhaps cases of coronavirus could have been softened around the world, especially in the

United States. What if America spent more time believing in the dangers of the virus and less time slandering other countries for what was already inevitable? Perhaps more lives could have been saved and less discrimination experienced.

Clearly, the representations created through these translations and images have played an integral role in the forming of public opinion. As mentioned earlier, representations are the meanings we attached to symbolic messages around us. If countries continue to have an increased dependence on representations which demean cultures of varying backgrounds and simply play to their own self-interests, our world will continue to suffer from a pandemic of ignorance, misunderstanding, and misplaced presuppositions. This research has begun a dialogue

– a realization – of the contested world view between two global powers, the United States and the Peoples Republic of China, and how the current dialogue between the countries continues to pull them apart, when it needs to bring them together.

92 Sabrina Tavernise and Richard A. Oppel Jr. “Spit On, Yelled at, Attacked: Chinese – Americans Fear for their Safety.” The New York Times, 23 March 2020. 87

By finding and analyzing patterned derogatory representations in English news media and comparing them with their Chinese counterparts, this research – with the foundation of postcolonial translation theory, historical analyses, translation and culture, cultural representations, and signifying practices – has revealed the calculated steps with which Western media has taken in order to deliberately keep these two powers separate. If we are meant to learn from our past, then it is my hope that this research has started to reveal the language used during the years 2017 – 2020, a period where US and Chinese tensions have been at their highest for over a century with the US-China Trade War, Hong Kong Extradition Bill and the COVID-19 crisis, as a xenophobic power tactic.

88

Works Cited

Bassnett, Susan. Translation. New York: Routledge, 2014.

BBC 中文網. http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad

BBC World Asia: China. http://www.bbc.com/news/world/asia/china

BBC. “China threatens sanctions over US-Taiwan F-16 fighter plane deal.” BBC, 21 August

2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49420283. Accessed 08 July 2020.

Bielsa, Esperanca and Bassnett, Susan. Translation in Global News. New York: Routledge,

2009.

Chomsky, Noam and Herman, Edward S. Manufactured Consent. New York: Pantheon Books,

1988.

Cohen, Paul. Discovering History in China: American Historical Writing on the Recent Chinese

Past. New York: Columbia University Press, 1984.

Ebert, Roger. “Zhang Yimou’s Gold Medal.” Roger Ebert’s Journal, 9 August 2008. Web. 29 December 2017. https://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/zhang-yimous-gold- Medal. Accessed 17 Dec. 2017. Ebrey B. Patricia. The Cambridge Illustrated History of: China. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, ed. 2, 2010.

Fahey, Keith. “Tiananmen Went Beyond a ‘Crackdown.’” The Washington Post, 30 April 2005.

Web. 24 December 2017. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-

dyn/content/article/2005/04/29/AR2005042901190.html. Accessed 20 Dec. 2017.

Hall, Stuart. Critical Dialogues in Cultural Studies. Edited by David Morley and Kuan-Hsing Chen. London: Routeledge, 1996.

Hall, Stuart. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. Edited by 89

Stuart Hall. London, Sage Publications, 1997.

Helle, J. Horst. China: Promise or Threat. Boston: Brill, 2017.

Hermans, Theo. “Translation and Normativity.” Current Issues in Language and Society, vol.5,

No 1&2, 1998.

Kearny, W. Michael. “Trusting News Project Report 2017.” A Reynolds Journalism Institute research project, 2017. https://www.rjionline.org/reporthtml.html. Accessed 31 December 2017. Kissinger, Henry. World Order. New York: Penguin Books, 2014.

Latham, Kevin. “Media, the Olympics and the Search for the “Real China.” The China Quarterly 197 (2009): 25. www.jstor.org/stable/27756421. Accessed 05 Dec. 2017.

Lefevere, Andre. Translation, Rewriting, & the Manipulation of Literary Fame. New York:

Routledge, 1992.

Levenson, R. Joseph. “Western Powers and Chinese Revolutions: The Pattern of Intervention.” Pacific Affairs 26. 3 (1953): 230-236. www.jstor.org/stable/2753287. Accessed 22 Dec. 2017.

Lewis, Anthony. “Abroad at Home; Unhappy Birthday.” The New York Times, 28 September

1989. Web. 20 December 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/28/opinion/abroad-

at-home-unhappy-

birthday.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FTiananmen%20Square&action=click&c

ontentCollection=world®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&content lacement=434&pgtype=collection. Accessed 20 Dec. 2017

Mackerras, P. Colin (馬克林)Western Images of China Since 1949: 1949 年以來中國在西方的

形象. Hong Kong: 香港中和出版有限公司, 2013.

Mishra, Pankaj. Chinese Characters: Profiles of Fast-Changing Lives in a Fast-Changing Land. 90

Edited by Angilee Shah and Jeffrey Wasserstrom, California: University of California Press, 2012.

Mitter, Rana. “Modernity, Internationalization, and War in the History of Modern China.” The Historical Journal 48.2 (2005): 523-543. www.jstor.org/stable/4091703. Accessed 21 Feb. 2018 Post-Colonial Translation. Edited by Susan Bassnett and Harish Trivedi. New York: Routledge, 1999.

Rafael, Vincente L. Motherless Tongues: The Insurgency of Language amid Wars of Translation. London: Duke University Press, 2016. Said, W. Edward. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, 1979. Sarkar, Shrutee. "Economists united: Trump tariffs won't help the economy". Reuters. March 14, 2018. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-poll- idUSKCN1GQ02G. Accessed 03 July 2020. Swanson, Ana. "Trump's Trade War With China Is Officially Underway". The New York Times, July 5, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/business/china-us-trade-war-trump- tariffs.html. Accessed 03 July 2019.

Swisher, Earl. “Chinese Intellectuals and the Western Impact, 1838-1900.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 1.1 (1958): 26-37. www.jstor.org/stable/177856. Accessed 04 Jan. 2018.

Tavernise, Sabrina and Oppel, Richard Jr. “Spit On, Yelled at, Attacked: Chinese – Americans

Fear for their Safety.” The New York Times, 23 March 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/us/chinese-coronavirus-racist-attacks.html. Accessed 02 July 2020.

“The Beijing Olympics: Let the Games Begin.” The Economist, 15 August 2008. Web. 03 January 2018. http://www.economist.com/node/11912951. Accessed 09 Jan. 2018.

The Boxers, China, and the World. Edited by Robert Bickers and R. G. Tiedman. Lanham: 91

Rowman and Littlefield, 2007.

Trajectories: Inter-Asia Cultural Studies. Edited by Kuan-Hsing Chen. London: Routeledge,

1998.

U.S. Department of State. “U.S. Relations with Hong Kong.” U.S. Department of State. 17 July,

2018. https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-hong-kong/. Accessed 10 July 2020.

Wells, A. David. “The Truth About the ‘Opium War.’” The North American Review 162.475 (1896): 759-760. www.jstor.org/stable/25118667. Accessed 15 Feb. 2018.