March 21, 2026SAGE Open0 citationsOpen Access
View Full PaperMedia Framing of the Suez Canal Blockage: China’s Strategic Responses versus America’s Economic Disruptions
Key Points
- To analyze media framing of the 2021 Suez Canal blockage in Chinese and American press.
- Conducted a comparative discourse analysis of media reports.
- Employed a corpus-driven keyword analysis to identify semantic frames.
- Examined four semantic frames: problem definition, causal interpretation, consequential impact, and proposed solutions.
- Chinese media framed the blockage as manageable, promoting the Belt and Road Initiative as a solution.
- American media emphasized the unpredictability of the event and focused on its economic disruptions.
- Distinct media strategies illustrate the socio-political contexts of China and the U.S. within global supply chains.
Abstract
This study conducts a comparative discourse analysis of media framing associated with the 2021 Suez Canal blockage in Chinese and American English-language press. Using a corpus-driven keyword analysis, it identifies four semantic frames, namely problem definition, causal interpretation, consequential impact, and proposed solutions. Findings reveal divergent framing strategies, with Chinese media framing the event as a manageable disruption while strategically promoting the Belt and Road Initiative as a solution, whereas American media emphasized its unpredictability and focused extensively on the economic disruptions. The study contends that such strategies stem from the two nations’ distinct positions within global supply chains under economic globalization. It contributes by transcending a purely economic lens to illustrate how socio-political orientations are woven into media discourse to influence public perception.
Cite This Study
Hou et al. (Thu,) studied this question.