A Comparative Research On Public Opinion Of Taiwan Reports In The New York Times After Ma Ying-jeou Became The New Leader

This thesis attempts to quantify the Taiwan-related public opinion in order to find out the features of the opinion and the changes after Ma Ying-jeou became the new leader of Taiwan by analyzing the news reports about Taiwan in the New York Times from 2005 to 2009. The thesis also explains the reason and regular pattern for the changes in the Taiwan-related public opinion in the New York Times.The thesis examines five factors of public opinion, that is, scale, presentation, content, participant and preference in order to find out the features and changes of Taiwan-related public opinion after Ma Ying-jeou took the position. The thesis also gives a detailed analysis of the Taiwan's Arms Deal from USA.It turns out that the Taiwan-related public opinion in New York Times hasn't changed a lot after Ma Ying-jeou took the position. It embodies the national interest of USA. However, the opinion does change in some aspects, for the reason of the changes in Taiwan's policy, in the relationship between Taiwan and the mainland, in the USA's policy towards Taiwan, the changes happen in scale, preference, the source, the written type and so on. We can conclude that USA pays greater attention to Taiwan and there is a close relationship between the news reports and the national interest of USA.The value-based news frame hasn't changed so much. The Taiwan-related public opinion is in consistent with the national interest of USA.China should take this strategic opportunity to further develop the economy and enhance the comprehensive national power including the arms strength. At the same time, China should enhance its international influence and get supports from international community in order to solve the Taiwan problem in a peaceful way.