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  4. Vol 6, Issue 5, 2025

The Role of Media in the China-US Trade War and the Laws of International News Communication

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DOI: 10.23977/mediacr.2025.060511 | Downloads: 0 | Views: 4

Author(s)

Jing Zhang 1

Affiliation(s)

1 Xi'an International University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China

Corresponding Author

Jing Zhang

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the China-US Trade War from 2018 to 2025, sorts out its three development stages of initiation, escalation, and mitigation with repetitions, and elaborates in detail on the three rounds of negotiations triggered by the continuous escalation of tariff measures by the US side in 2025. By analyzing the frame confrontation and narrative power competition of mainstream news media, the emotional polarization and identity mobilization on social platforms, the signal game and "strategic translation" of government departments, and the interaction between domestic and international public opinions during the three rounds of negotiations in 2025, this paper reveals the role of media in this process. Meanwhile, combined with theories such as constructivism, media and foreign policy decision-making, and algorithmic visibility, it expounds the laws of international news communication, including that the international structure is continuously constructed in the interaction of discourses and symbols, the media influences foreign policy preferences through "agenda-setting" and "frame competition", and the recommendation mechanism of social platforms determines the amplification of narratives. It also points out that the China-US game has entered the "post-narrative era" and the changes in the narrative power of both sides. 

KEYWORDS

China-US Trade War, Mainstream Media; Social Media, Constructivism, Agenda-Setting

CITE THIS PAPER

Jing Zhang, The Role of Media in the China-US Trade War and the Laws of International News Communication. Media and Communication Research (2025) Vol. 6: 73-81. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/mediacr.2025.060511.

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