Differentiated yet common sentiments: UK news coverage on the Biden–Xi summit meeting

Lewis, Angela; Lai, Hongyi

Abstract

Britain’s policy on China fluctuated from positive engagement to China scepticism between 2015 and 2023, influenced by geopolitical and domestic politics and economic concerns. British media coverage of US–China interactions and rivalry therefore warrants scrutiny. The US–China summit meeting of November 2023 offered such an opportunity. This article uses a critical discourse analysis approach to analyse UK coverage of Xi Jinping’s US visit. Portrayals of the summit are examined in terms of differing tones and stances adopted by The Guardian, the BBC, and the Daily Mail news outlets. It is found that while the Daily Mail’s tone toward the summit meeting was overwhelmingly negative, that of The Guardian was moderately positive and the BBC’s tone was mostly neutral. Narratives reveal that Britain positioned itself between the two rivalries through an inclusion of diverse, elite perspectives and that its framing of China cohered with Anglo–American ideological norms and special relations.

Citation

Lewis, A., & Lai, H. (2025). Differentiated yet common sentiments: UK news coverage on the Biden–Xi summit meeting. Global Media and China, 10(2), 199-217. https://doi.org/10.1177/20594364251325515

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 19, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Mar 17, 2025
• Publication Date: 2025-06
• Deposit Date: Mar 4, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 4, 2025
• Journal: Global Media and China
• Print ISSN: 2059-4364
• Electronic ISSN: 2059-4372
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 199-217
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/20594364251325515
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/46186398
• Publisher URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20594364251325515