The Image Of China In Russian Media In The Context Of Coronavirus

An unknown type of respiratory infectious disease was discovered in Wuhan,China in January 2020.The new type of virus with a high mortality rate rapidly spread among the whole country.Subsequently,the virus was found in many other countries outside China as well.Since the disease appeared to be highly contagious,China informed the WHO about it immediately.After numerous researches carried by international respiratory experts,the virus was unanimously determined to be a new type of coronavirus.As a Ukrainian graduate student in China,I experienced how the Chinese government and people overcame the difficulties and built a strong defense tactic against coronavirus.Moreover,I also witnessed how the consciousness and self-discipline of the Chinese helped them to combat the virus.In January 2020,Chinese people were getting ready to farewell to the old and embrace the new as the country was moving towards traditional Spring Festival holidays.The Chinese were going to return home for the festival,but the so-called "chunyun" took an unexpected turn that year.Coronavirus changed the plans of 600-700 million Chinese who were about to return home for the joyful season.To contain the new epidemic,the Chinese government implemented early stringent measures and decided to make a drastic decision to convert cities into quarantine zones to fight the spread of the virus.Apart from the government contribution,common Chinese people were also deeply aware of the fact that coronavirus is extremely dangerous so they were actively following the strict precautionary measures set by the government.People who originally were going to return home for the New Year decided not to hit the road and spend the New Year in the place they were at that moment,those who wanted to go out traveling during the period canceled their plans as well.All public places were closed to prevent further transmission of the virus...By May 2020,China had coronavirus under control.The constant declining number of new cases made every Chinese feel that their efforts to conquer the challenge were rewarded and gratified.Due to the COVID-19 pandemic,I could not return to my country,and I often used We Chat to inform my family that I was safe and sound.At the same time,with the global outbreak of the virus,I started feeling extremely worried about my family.I can speak three languages,namely Russian,Chinese and English.During the epidemic,I was also following various preventive measures set by the Chinese government and was monitoring numerous news reports made by the global media.However,I discovered that some Western countries did not take prevention and control of the epidemic as a serious matter and some residents of Western countries even refused to follow quarantine orders.The epidemic situation abroad was getting worse and the number of new cases was skyrocketing.However,there were cases when some Western states regarded China as "the area with the worst epidemic situation".Nevertheless,to cover up their failure to implement appropriate measures against the spread of the epidemic,these countries and governments went so far as to put responsibility for the pandemic exclusively on China.Some mainstream Western media even described the new virus as a "Chinese" one.The rapid improvement in the epidemic situation in China also made some Western media promote the "Chinese conspiracy theory".Such actions fuelled hostility towards China,consequently,China’s national image was greatly damaged,moreover,the international living environment was getting worse.However,the truth cannot be discredited.As Russia’s most authoritative national television news media,Russian Channel One made objective and fair news coverage of the Chinese government policies and people’s precautions that helped them to stop the spreading of the new infection.After comparing some facts I firmly believe that the coverage of Russian Channel One during the COVID-19 pandemic not only revealed the truth about China’s national defense against the epidemic but also shaped a good image of China through objective and fair news reports.All the above-mentioned factors inspired my research interest to start studying China’s national image created by the Russian media during the coronavirus pandemic.The research selected,analyzed,and studied China-related news released by Channel One from January 13,2020,to January 22,2021.We analyzed the content and the number of news as well as vocabulary used to describe China.We also managed to summarize the main characteristics of the Chinese image presented by the media that year,and finally,described China’s national image from three perspectives:politics,economy,and society.As for the samples,we used two techniques: a quantitative and qualitative analysis.The number of China-related news broadcast by the channel was compared with those of the previous year,while a certain number of reports were compared with coverage made by some mainstream British and American media.In 2019 Russian and China celebrated the 70 th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the countries.The two states formally established a comprehensive strategic partnership later in June that year.China-Russia bilateral relations have entered a new era.The two countries have further deepened the cooperation in the fields of energy,military,science,technology,e-commerce,agricultural trade,and tourism.A great potential of cooperation between the countries was released,nowadays they are jointly committed to building the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asia-Europe Economic Union,to counter Western economic blockades,sanctions,and unilateralism.In this era,Channel One,as the federal news media,has shown total support towards China.Research shows that the channel made news coverage on China’s epidemic prevention and control measures,international relations,its scientific and technological achievements,major events that happened during the period,the country’s economic development,culture,politics,and sport.Among the news,the most popular topic was epidemic prevention and control measures.The channel praised China’s coronavirus response.In comparison with reports made by some mainstream British and American media,the ones made by Channel One were usually more objective and fair.Although according to the media’s reports,some problems do exist in Chinese society,but generally speaking,it was described as a dedicated,united,and harmonious one.The channel has created a good international image of China: the country was presented as a responsible state that obeys international law,has a high international status,and strong influence.China was also described as a developed country with great economic and technological power that implemented successful anti-epidemic measures.The media also believes that China is a peaceful and friendly country,an old friend of Russia,and one of its most important partners.During this special historical period,China’s national image has been challenged.Furthermore,anti-China sentiments in some Western countries have run high.As part of the cultural Western world,Russia has an important role in creating the image of China,therefore our research may be of special interest to the Chinese part.