A Study Of China’s National Image Within Political Issues In The Mainstream Net-media Of Kazakhstan

National image is regarded as an essential constitute of national soft strength. A good national image contributes to enhance cohesion of a country; it can also create favorable international consensuses for the development of the nation. China’s national image has been being distorted by western media. Based on that fact, previous studies on national image in China are mainly about China’s image in the eyes of western countries, little attention was paid to how countries in Central Asia thought of China. At present China is committed to the implementation of ‘One Belt, One Road’ project, knowing China’s national image in the countries of Central Asia is a task of priority.Among the five countries in Central Asia, Kazakhstan ranks first in territory and economy, besides, it is also the biggest trade partner of China in Central Asia. In the past few years, bilateral collaborations were boosted in various fields, China attached great importance to develop its relations with Kazakhstan. Knowing how China is viewed in Kazakhstan is significant for increasing the understanding between the two countries, and deepening collaboration with Kazakhstan, it will also provide reference for the government of China in developing Central Asia strategy.As an interdisciplinary research, linguistics, journalism and cross-cultural communication are involved in this study. Based on Critical Discourse Analysis, Systematical Functional Grammar and Appraisal Theory, this study combines qualitative and quantitative research methods to explore: 1) what kind of national image within political issues dose China have in the mainstream net-media of Kazakhstan? Is it positive or negative? 2)what kind of linguistic devices are used to construct the positive or negative image?As the findings show, generally speaking, China’s national image within political issues in mainstream net-media of Kazakhstan is positive. However, the orientations of China’s national image are different within the two dimensions, namely, domestic politics and international politics. The former is relatively negative while the latter is significantly positive. In addition, from the perspective of the amount of publications, it can be found that the former is paid little attention while the latter is highlighted. China’s national image is also different in different themes of the two dimensions. It is significantly positive in efficiency of government, significantly negative in democracy situation, relatively negative in administration of officials, and significantly positive in outside image of state leaders. In the theme of international relations, the mainstream net-media of Kazakhstan focuses on China-Kazakhstan relations, China-US relations, China-Russia relations, and international affairs in which China plays a role. By analyzing the appraisal lexicons, it can be found that the national image of China is significantly positive in the topic of China-Kazakhstan relations, and China’s national image as a close neighbor to Kazakhstan is presented. The national image of China is relatively positive in the topic of China-US relations, and the China-US relations are presented as a relation of both confrontation and cooperation. The national image of China is significantly positive in the topic of China-Russia relations, and a relation of strategic partnership is manifested. China’s national image is significantly positive in the topic of international affairs, and is significantly negative in the theme of territorial disputes, China is regarded as a ‘threat’ and an ‘aggressor’.By analyzing the patterns and parts of speech of linguistic devices used to construct China’s national image within political issues in the mainstream net-media of Kazakhstan, it is found that China’s national image within political issues is mainly constructed by word groups/phrases.To be specific, the positive national image of China is mainly realized by word groups/phrases while the negative national image of China is mainly realized by words. On the layer of words. From the perspective of parts of speech, the positive attitude towards China is constructed by verbs, adjectives and nouns while the negative attitude towards China is molded by nouns and verbs. On the layer of word groups/phrases, both the positive and the negative attitude towards China within political issues in Kazinform are shaped through nominal groups/phrases and verbal groups/phrases.