Different Countries, Different Perspectives: A Comparative Analysis of the South China Sea Disputes Coverage by Malaysian and Chinese Newspapers

The South China Sea disputes involve both island and maritime claims among several sovereign states within the region, namely China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan. Framing an analysis of international news and diplomatic relations allows researchers to examine how news organisations provide their audiences with context regarding news stories through content promotion and exclusion. This study examined how the Malaysian and Chinese newspapers reported about the South China Sea disputes and Malaysia–China bilateral relations. The findings indicated that the newspapers reported the topics with different intensity and prominence, while different news sources were employed. It was also found that conflict was a salient frame used by the various newspapers. In addition, this study found that the Malaysian and Chinese newspapers exhibited different valence in reporting the South China Sea disputes. Among the Malaysian newspapers under examination in this study, Sin Chew Daily (a Chinese-language daily) employed the most similar frame to that of the Chinese newspapers, where the coverage was pervasive with supportive valence towards China.