This study is a framing analysis of the coverage of the issue of Taiwan independence by the leading US newspaper – the New York Times. The identified major themes and meaning system illustrate how a politically sensitive issue on foreign soil is culturally translated into the mainstream American press: American elite press coverage of Taiwan’s independence is packaged with the significant cultural symbols of democracy and freedom, marked by the threat from communism as well as surrounded by the rhetoric of social order and peace. The engendered ambiguity is argued to transcend partisan rifts, renew the dominant values and maintain the credibility of American politics.
AcharyaA (2005) Changing dynamics in the Taiwan Strait: one country, many systems?International Studies42(3/4): 227–6.
2.
ArnoA (1984) The news media as third parties in national and international conflict: duobus litigantibus terries gaudet. In ArnoADissanayakeW (eds) The News Media in National and International Conflict. Boulder, CO: Westview, 229–238.
3.
AuerbachYBloch-ElkonY (2005) Media framing and foreign policy: the elite press vis-a-vis US policy in Bosnia, 1992–1995. Journal of Peace Research42(1): 83–99.
4.
BagdikianBH (1990) The Media Monopoly. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
5.
BennettWL (1980) Public Opinion in American Politics. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
6.
BennettWL (1990) Toward a theory of press-state relations in the United States. Journal of Communication40(2): 103–125.
7.
BensonBVNiouEMS (2005) Public opinion, foreign policy and the security balance in the Taiwan Strait. Security Studies14(2): 274–289.
8.
BerryNO (1990) Foreign Policy and the Press. New York, NY: Greenwood Press.
9.
BlumerJGGurevitchM (1995) The Crisis of Public Communication. Routledge: London.
10.
BoazC (2005) War and foreign policy framing in international media. Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice17(4): 349–56.
11.
BradsherK (2002) China fumes at Taipei chief over vote plan. New York Times. 5August, p. 5.
12.
BradsherK (2004) Small pro-independence party is gaining in Taiwan opinion polls. New York Times. 9December, p. 19.
13.
BuckleyC (2005) Beijing leaders speak of force to keep Taiwan ‘Chinese’. New York Times. 8March, p. 10.
14.
BuckleyC (2005) Calling in envoy, Beijing assails Pentagon Report. New York Times. 21July, p. 10.
15.
CallaghanKSchnellF (2005) Introduction: Framing Political Issues in American Politics. In: CallaghanKSchnellF (eds) Framing American Politics. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1–21.
16.
CarrAZanettiLA (1999) Metatheorizing the dialectic of self and other: the psychodynamics in work organizations. American Behavioral Scientist43(2): 324–345.
17.
ChangHCHoltR (2007) Symbols in conflict: Taiwan (Taiwan) and Zhongguo (China) in Taiwan’s identity politics. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics13(1):129–165.
18.
ChangK (1999) Auto trade policy and the press: auto elite as a source of the media agenda. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly76(2): 312–324.
19.
ChengM (2006) Constructing a new political spectacle: tactics of Chen Shui-bian’s 2000 and 2004 inaugural speeches. Discourse & Society17(5): 583–608.
20.
ChristianH (1980) The Sociology of Journalism and the Press. Keele: University of Keele.
21.
CoeKDomkeDGrahamESJohnSLPickardVW (2004) No shades of gray: the binary discourse of George W. Bush and an echoing press. Journal of Communication54(2): 234–252.
22.
CorcuffS (2002) Conclusion: history, the memories of the future. In: CorcuffS (ed.) Memories of the Future: National Identity Issues and the Search for a New Taiwan. New York: Sharpe, 243–252.
23.
DaltonRJ (1996) Citizen Politics in Western Democracies. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House.
24.
EckholmE (2000a) Opposition candidate in Taiwan won’t push China on independence issue. New York Times. 30January, p. 9.
25.
EckholmE (2000b) China’s own witch hunt. New York Times. 27February, p. 4.
26.
EckholmE (2000c) In weighty times, an island lampoons its jitters. New York Times. 17March, p. 4.
27.
EckholmE (2000d) As Taiwan votes in close 3-way race today, a weak government is the likeliest outcome. New York Times. 18March, p. 4.
28.
EckholmE (2000e) Decision in Taiwan: the overview; Taiwan nationalists ousted after half-century reign. New York Times. 19March, p. 1.
29.
EckholmE (2000f) Why a victory in Taiwan wasn’t enough for some. New York Times. 22March, p. 16.
30.
EckholmE (2000g) Chinese adviser warns closer U.S.-Taiwan military ties will anger Beijing. New York Times. 20April, p. 10.
31.
EckholmE (2000h) Taiwan’s new leader ends decades of Nationalist rule. New York Times. 20May, p. 3.
32.
EckholmE (2000i) Change of power in Taiwan is meeting a moderate response from Beijing. New York Times. 21May, p. 16.
33.
EckholmE (2001) US visa for ex-Taiwan leader risks irritating China more. New York Times. 21April, p. 3.
34.
EdelmanMJ (1988) Constructing the Political Spectacle. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
35.
EdelmanMJ (1993) Contestable categories and public opinion. Political Communication10(3): 231–242.
36.
EntmanRM (1991) Framing U.S. coverage of international news: contrasts in narratives of the KAL and Iran Air incidents. Journal of Communication41(4): 6–27.
37.
EntmanRM (1993) Framing: toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of Communication43(4): 51–58.
38.
GablerN (1998) Life the Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality. New York, NY: Knopf.
39.
GallagherM (1982) Negotiation of Control in Media Organizations and Occupations. In: GurevitchT. (eds) Culture, Society and the Media. London: Methuen, 149–173.
40.
GamsonWA (1992) Talking Politics. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
41.
GamsonWACroteauDHoynesWSassonT (1992) Media images and the social construction of reality. Annual Review of Sociology18: 373–393.
42.
GansHJ (1979) Deciding What’s News. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
43.
GoffmanE (1974) Frame Analysis. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
44.
GoldsteinSMSchriverR (2001) An uncertain relationship: the United States, Taiwan and the Taiwan Relations Act. The China Quarterly165:147–172.
45.
GossBM (2001) ‘All our kids get better jobs tomorrow’: the North American Free Trade Agreement in the New York Times. Journalism and Communication Monographs3(1): 3–47.
46.
GraberAD (1997) Mass Media and American Politics. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.
47.
HallinD (1994) We Keep America on Top of the World. New York, NY: Routledge.
48.
HermanESChomskyN (1988) Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. New York, NY: Pantheon Books.
49.
HessS (1984) The Government/Press Connection. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
50.
HirschPM (1977) Occupational, organizational and institutional models in mass communication. In: HirschP. (eds.) Strategies for Communication Research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 3–42.
51.
HsiaoFSullivanL (1979) The Chinese Communist Party and the status of Taiwan, 1928–1943. Pacific Affairs52(3): 455–467.
52.
HuangLLLiuJHChangM (2004) The ‘double identity’ of Taiwanese Chinese: a dilemma of politics and culture rooted in history. Asian Journal of Social Psychology7(2): 149–168.
53.
IbarraPRKitsuseJI (1993) Vernacular constituents of moral discourse: an interactionist proposal for the study of social problems. In: MillerGHolsteinJA (eds) Constructionist Controversies. New York, NY: Aldine de Gruyter, 21–54.
54.
ItuleBAndersonD (1997) News Writing and Reporting for Today’s Media, 4th Edition. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
55.
KahnJ (2003a) Chinese officers say Taiwan’s leaders are near ‘abyss of war’. New York Times. 4December, p. 7.
56.
KahnJ (2003b) Taiwan’s strategic miscalculation. New York Times.10December, p. 6.
57.
KahnJ (2004a) In Beijing, Cheney is urged to reduce Taiwan military support. New York Times.14April, p. 5.
58.
KahnJ (2004b) Taiwan casts U.S. as China intermediary. New York Times. 28April, p. 10.
59.
KahnJ (2004c) China’s saber rattling: paying off?. New York Times. 13December, p. 6.
60.
KahnJ (2005a) The two faces of rising China. New York Times. 13March, p. 1.
61.
KahnJ (2005b) 60 years later, China enemies end their war. New York Times. 30April, p. 1.
62.
KahnJ (2005c) China raises hurdle to Taiwan negotiations. New York Times. 4May, p. 12.
63.
KahnJBradsherK (2006) Beijing accuses Taiwan leader of ‘grave provocation’. New York Times. 1March, p. 11.
64.
KimKK (2003) It’s all about trade: United States press coverage of cigarette export talks and policy. Mass Communication and Society6(1): 75–97.
65.
KimST (2000) Making a difference: U.S. press coverage of the Kwangju and Tiananmen pro-democracy movements. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly77(1): 22–36.
66.
KinderDRSandersLM (1990) Mimicking political debates with survey questions: the case of white opinion on affirmative action for blacks. Social Cognition8(1): 73–103.
67.
KinderDRSandersLM (1996). Divided by Color: Racial Politics and Democratic Ideals. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
68.
KoblandCEDuLKwonJ (1992) Influence of ideology in news reporting: case study of New York Times coverage of student demonstrations in China and South Korea. Asian Journal of Communication2(2): 64–77.
69.
KracauerS (1953) The challenges of qualitative content analysis. Public Opinion Quarterly16(4): 631–642.
70.
LanderM (2000a) Taiwan candidate eases on China policy. New York Times. 21January, p. 10.
71.
LanderM (2000b) China’s sniping heeded by some Taiwan voters. New York Times. 9March, p. 10.
72.
LanderM (2000c) She’s fond of independence for herself and Taiwan too. New York Times. 19March, p. 14.
73.
LanderM (2000d) Decision in Taiwan: violent protests in Taiwan follow election defeat. New York Times. 20March, p. 1.
74.
LanderM (2001) A Taiwan traveler everyone is watching. New York Times. 24April, p. 6.
75.
LarsonJE (1988) Global Television and Foreign Policy. New York, NY: Foreign Policy Association.
76.
LasaterML (2000) The Taiwan Conundrum in U.S. China Policy. Boulder, CO: Westview.
77.
LeagueD (2007a) Taiwan plans to produce missiles able to hit China. New York Times. 29September, p. 7.
78.
LeagueD (2007b) China steps up military focus on Taiwan. New York Times. 10October, p. 3.
79.
LeagueD (2008) Opposition party wins in Taiwan parliamentary Election. New York Times. 13January, p. 4.
80.
LeviMDeTrayS (1993) A weapon against war: conscientious objection in the United States, Australia and France. Politics and Society21(4): 425–464.
81.
LinB (2002) A tale of two Chinas. New York Times. 12August, p. 15.
82.
McChesneyRW (2008) The Political Economy of Media: Enduring Issues, Emerging Dilemmas. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press.
83.
McManusJ (1991) How objective is local television news?Mass Communications Review18(3): 21–30.
84.
McNellyJTIzcarayF (1986) International news exposure and images of nations. Journalism and Communication Quarterly63(3): 546–553.
85.
McQuailD (1994) Mass Communication Theory: An Introduction, 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
86.
MarshR (2000) Taiwan’s future national identity: attitudes and geopolitical constraints. International Journal of Comparative Sociology41(3/4): 299–314.
87.
NeumannR (1986) The Paradox of Mass Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
88.
NYT (2000) Political earthquake in Taiwan. New York Times. 20March, p. 22.
89.
NYT (2003) Unneeded quarrel over Taiwan. New York Times. 6December, p. 14.
90.
PanZDKosickiGM (1993) Framing analysis: an approach to news discourse. Political Communication10(1): 55–75.
91.
PerkinsDStarostaW (2001) Representing coculturals: on form and news portrayals of Native Americans. The Howard Journal of Communication12(2): 73–84.
92.
SalisburyHE (1980) Without Fear or Favor: The New York Times and Its Times. New York, NY: Times Books.
93.
SalwenMBMateraF (1989) Public salience of foreign nations. Journalism Quarterly69(3): 623–632.
94.
SangerD (2003) U.S. asks Taiwan to avoid a vote provoking China. New York Times. 9December, p. 1.
95.
ScheufeleD (1999) Framing as a theory of media effects. Journal of Communication49(1): 103–122.
96.
SchudsonM (1989) How culture works. Theory and Society18(2): 153–180.
97.
ShenonP (2000) Diplomatic outsider lobbies Washington’s inner circle. New York Times. 3April, p. 12.
98.
SmithSC (2000) War talk is cheap. War isn’t. Keep talking. New York Times. 19March, p. 5.
99.
SmithSC (2002) A distracted China issues censure of Taiwan chief’s remarks. New York Times. 6August, p. 4.
100.
SpencerWJ (2005) It’s not as simple as it seems: ambiguous culpability and ambivalent affect in news representation of violent youth. Symbolic Interaction28(1): 47–65.
101.
StraussACorbinJ (1998) Basics of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
102.
TuchmanG (1978) Making News: A Study in the Construction of Reality. New York: Free Press.
103.
USCBC (US-China Business Council) (2008) The US-China Business Council: The U.S.-China Trade Statistics and China’s World Trade Statistics. Available (consulted 12 Nov 2008) at: http://www.uschina.org/statistics/tradetable.html
104.
Van DijkT (1988) News Analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
105.
Van DijkT (1991) Racism and the Press. London: Routledge.
106.
Van DijkT (1998) Ideology: A Multidisciplinary Approach. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
107.
VerbaS (1993) The 1993 James Madison Lecture: the voice of the people. PS: Political Science and Politics26(4): 677–686.
108.
WantaWHuYW (1993) The agenda-setting effects of international news coverage: an examination of differing news frames. International Journal of Public Opinion Research5(3): 250–264
109.
WantaWGolanGLeeCH (2004) Agenda setting and international news: media influence on public perceptions of foreign nations. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly81(2): 364–377.
110.
WasburnPC (2002) The Social Construction of International News: We’re Talking About Them, They’re Talking About Us. Westport, CT: Praeger.
111.
WongE (2008) Whoever wins Taiwan presidential vote, independence movement is likely to wane. New York Times. 12March, p. 12.
112.
WuHD (2000) Systematic determinants of international news coverage: a comparison of 38 countries. Journal of Communication50(2): 110–130.
113.
YardleyJ (2005) China denies ‘Taiwan’ law on secession is a ‘war bill’, New York Times, 14March, p. 12.
114.
ZallerJ (1992) The Nature and Origin of Mass Opinion. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
