Boris Johnson in hospital: a Chinese gaze at Western democracies in the COVID-19 pandemic

Peng, Altman Yuzhu, Zhang, Ivy Shixin, Cummings, James and Zhang, Xiaoxiao (2020) Boris Johnson in hospital: a Chinese gaze at Western democracies in the COVID-19 pandemic. Media International Australia, 177 (1). pp. 76-91. ISSN 1329-878X

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Abstract

In this article, we examine Chinese assessments of Western democratic systems in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This research is based on an up-to-date case study of how Chinese Internet users discussed the UK Prime Minister – Boris Johnson’s infection with COVID-19 in late March and early April 2020. The research collected original data from the Chinese community question-answering (CQA) site – Zhihu. Using a mixed-method approach, consisting of content analysis (CA) and thematic analysis (TA), we show how Zhihu users evaluate the incident (1) as a way to express their sentiments towards Boris Johnson, (2) as a case to assess British politics and (3) as a vehicle for rationalizing their views on Western democratic systems in relation to China’s domestic politics. The research findings shed new light on a Chinese gaze at Western democratic systems in the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	boris johnson,china,chinese gaze,community question-answering (cqa) site,covid-19,pandemic,prime minister,the uk,western democracy,zhihu,cultural studies,communication ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3316
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Art, Media and American Studies
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	21 Oct 2020 23:56
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2022 07:20
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/77403
DOI:	10.1177/1329878X20954452

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