Chinese And American Leaders’ Diplomatic Thoughts As Seen From Their International Speeches

Since President Trump came to power in the U.S.,the role of the United States on the world stage has changed significantly,because of the drastic change of U.S.foreign policy,which also has brought much influence to all countries in the world.In contrast,under the leadership of President Xi Jinping,China has made great progress and brilliant achievements in path of new diplomacy with Chinese characteristics.The political speeches by leaders play an important role in international exchanges and cooperation.As the leaders of the two largest economies,the public speeches made by Chinese and American leaders in international arenas express their unique political opinions and diplomatic thoughts,which have great influence all over the world.The personal pronouns and appraisal resources used in their political speeches are quite different,which plays a significant role in the expression of speakers’ standpoint and the construction of interpersonal relationship.This study randomly selects as data 20 public speeches delivered by Chinese and American leaders in international arenas,and uses quantitative and qualitative research methods to analyze how they achieve interpersonal meaning through the choice of personal pronouns and attitude resources,so as to reveal the different diplomatic concepts as seen from their speeches.The results are as follow:(1)The use of personal pronouns in the speeches of Chinese and American leaders has similarities and differences.WE is the most widely used personal pronoun both in Chinese and American leaders’ speeches,which is used to shorten the distance between the speaker and the listeners in order to gain understanding and supports and establish a friendly partnership with other countries.But one difference is that Trump uses I to brag about his achievements and show his status so as to establish his own personal authority.Besides,the use of the I and YOU widens the distance between Trump and the audiences,forming an unequal or even completely hostile relationship with others.It can be seen that America is friendly to some countries and hostile to some others,while China stays committed to pursuing friendship with all other countries,so as to achieve peaceful development and win-win cooperation.(2)The overall distribution of attitude resources in Chinese and American leaders’speeches are totally different.In President Xi’s speeches,the proportion of affect resources(53.55%)is more than a half,followed by that of appreciation resources(23.42%)and judgement resources(23.03%),which are nearly the same.Affect resources are mostly used to establish and maintain cooperative fellowship with other countries,which is in line with China’s diplomatic purpose to uphold world peace and promote common development.Appreciation and judgment resources are mostly applied to describe China’s solutions and constructive suggestions to global issues,construing China as a responsible country in the international community.In President Trump’s speeches,the frequency of judgment resources(41.27%)accounts for the largest proportion,followed by that of affect resources(39.40%),and that of appreciation resources(19.33%).Judgement and affect resources are mostly employed to accuse and criticize other countries or international institutions for harming America’s interests,which reflects his thought of "America First".Affect and appreciation resources are mostly adopted to boast about his achievements.This research can further prove feasibility and applicability of person system and attitude system in the analysis of political speeches,thus enriching the literature in this filed.This research can also help readers to better understand leaders’ stances on various global issues.Last but not least,this research is of significance for the practical communication between different countries.