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This article is a critical analysis of media discourses in which a dissident social actor is represented in China’s state-run English-language press. Specifically, it looks at media coverage of Liu Xiaobo, author of Charter 2008, a document calling for democracy and human rights in China. He was imprisoned for 11 years by the Chinese government for disseminating Charter 2008, but subsequently (to the government’s chagrin) was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in advocating human rights. This investigation examines articles from China’s English press on Liu Xiaobo. A transitivity analysis is conducted followed by an investigation of identifying and attributive relational processes in the texts. The findings show the use of passive agent deletion, definition/re-definition, and the attribution of derogating qualities to dissidents with the purpose of introducing biased ideological representations (positive-Self/negative-Other) into the discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interpretations of history have been a source of tension in East Asia but usually involve Japan and the Second World War. Yet, in the past ten years, another controversy has been brewing over history, this time between South Korea and China over claims to 'ownership' of an ancient kingdom. This article is a case study that examines how states utilize reinterpretations of history for current and future strategic goals. The result has been a dispute that has resembled a security dilemma where China's initial actions, deemed to be largely defensive by Beijing, were perceived in Seoul as offensive, provoking a counter-response that has in turn, alarmed China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]