The mechanism of othering: A discourse analysis of the construction of China's image in EurActiv and Euronews

The European Union (EU)–China relationship, pivotal in major diplomatic powers, has undergone significant adjustments in recent years, highlighting the importance to study how the EU media portray the image of China. Within the paradigm of othering, this critical discourse analysis selected two EU media, EurActiv and Euronews, with a sample of 117 news reports from 2013 to 2021 from Factiva, to examine the discursive structures and strategies presented in reporting on China based on the historical and realistic background and ideological traditions of Europe, Eurocentrism, and the Cold War mentality. In the mechanism of othering, three discursive strategies, such as classification/labeling, intertextuality/allusion, and reference strategies, were integrated from different aspects to construct China as not-one-of-us, a systemic competitor challenging and dividing Europe. Otherizing China is essentially a way for the EU as the we group for its self-construction to maintain Europe's long-standing superiority over China and the internal cohesion of the EU.