Britain as a protector, a mediator or an onlooker?
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Guofeng Wang [1]
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[1] Shanghai Normal University
Shanghai Normal University
China
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- Localización: Journal of language and politics, ISSN 1569-2159, Vol. 21, Nº. 1, 2022, págs. 17-36
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
Since Hong Kong’s handover to China, British newspapers still play an active role in constructing Britain’s connections with its former colony. This study elaborates a schema for protests to help better understand protests in general. Based on this schema, the study examined representations of the 2019–20 protests in British newspapers using the approach of corpus-assisted critical discourse studies. The analysis shows that they mainly used the predicational strategy, and emphasized the Chinese government’s control of Hong Kong – including the inabilities of the Hong Kong government and police violence – in contrast with the protestors’ demands for universal suffrage. They suggested that Britain act as a mediator to shoulder a moral responsibility over Hong Kong. Their attitudes are interpreted with regard to Britain’s foreign policies and the dominant ideology cultivated in its historical, socio-political contexts and suggest that the UK journalistic practice regarding Hong Kong issues is political-driven to a great extent.
