Competing Narratives In Media Framing Of U.S. Arms Sales To Taiwan

This study examines how the People’s Republic of China and Taiwanese media frame United States-Taiwan arms sales using unsupervised text mining methods. It analyses English-language news coverage from 2019 to 2026, a period marked by delayed U.S. arms transfers and political debate over Taiwan’s defence spending. Drawing on articles from Taiwanese and PRC-affiliated media, the study compares term frequencies, word associations, and topic structures. The results show that Taiwanese media primarily frame arms sales in terms of defence readiness, security, and policy, while PRC-affiliated media emphasise sovereignty, territorial integrity, and external interference. These differences suggest that the two media systems interpret the same arms sales through distinct political and security narratives.