Discourse power: sovereignty claims over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands

This paper examines the discursive construction in the territorial disputes over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands between China and Japan. In the 21st century, territorial sovereignty is still a widely acknowledged issue involving national and international security that imposes potential risks of conflict and even war. Based on realist constructivism, which differs from liberal constructivism, the study theorizes discourse power formation, which is jointly determined by power and social construction. Power and ideas are not mutually exclusive: states construct a discourse to express and legitimize power, while ideas and norms shape the ways states establish the morality of power. The findings of this study show that China and Japan use discourse as an instrument to pursue power, and that ideas and norms determine the two countries' narratives in discursive construction.