Studying the narrative of US policy towards China: introducing China-related political texts in Congress

Abstract How the United States pursues its decoupling policies towards China is an essential topic in studying U.S.‒China relations. Although the U.S. policy orientation towards China can be examined from several perspectives, this study uses a text-mining approach by extracting the China-related le...

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Main Authors: Yiwen Zhang, Fan Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2023-07-01
Series:Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01894-6
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author Yiwen Zhang
Fan Wang
author_facet Yiwen Zhang
Fan Wang
author_sort Yiwen Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract How the United States pursues its decoupling policies towards China is an essential topic in studying U.S.‒China relations. Although the U.S. policy orientation towards China can be examined from several perspectives, this study uses a text-mining approach by extracting the China-related legislation in the 115th–117th Congress to observe the activities of the U.S. Congress regarding the affairs of China. Our analysis shows that Congress has seen a surge in China-related legislation since the introduction of decoupling policies. At the same time, it has not improved its negative view of China and maintained a competitive attitude in the economic, scientific and technological, and military fields after party rotation. It is worth noting that Congress under the Biden administration has placed greater emphasis on ideological competition, requiring allies who share common values to work together to counter the ‘Chinese threat’ in various areas. In this article, it is found that congressional legislation, as important political texts, conceal value judgements and institutional orientations that guide and constrain diplomatic practice. Political texts, ideology, and power are intertwined and shape the current U.S. congressional diplomatic strategy towards China.
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spelling doaj.art-680a47a1188f47c5a0b7e1ceacc5cc042023-08-06T11:09:56ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922023-07-0110111010.1057/s41599-023-01894-6Studying the narrative of US policy towards China: introducing China-related political texts in CongressYiwen Zhang0Fan Wang1School of Politics and International Relations, East China Normal UniversityFudan Development Institute (FDDI), Fudan UniversityAbstract How the United States pursues its decoupling policies towards China is an essential topic in studying U.S.‒China relations. Although the U.S. policy orientation towards China can be examined from several perspectives, this study uses a text-mining approach by extracting the China-related legislation in the 115th–117th Congress to observe the activities of the U.S. Congress regarding the affairs of China. Our analysis shows that Congress has seen a surge in China-related legislation since the introduction of decoupling policies. At the same time, it has not improved its negative view of China and maintained a competitive attitude in the economic, scientific and technological, and military fields after party rotation. It is worth noting that Congress under the Biden administration has placed greater emphasis on ideological competition, requiring allies who share common values to work together to counter the ‘Chinese threat’ in various areas. In this article, it is found that congressional legislation, as important political texts, conceal value judgements and institutional orientations that guide and constrain diplomatic practice. Political texts, ideology, and power are intertwined and shape the current U.S. congressional diplomatic strategy towards China.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01894-6
spellingShingle Yiwen Zhang
Fan Wang
Studying the narrative of US policy towards China: introducing China-related political texts in Congress
Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
title Studying the narrative of US policy towards China: introducing China-related political texts in Congress
title_full Studying the narrative of US policy towards China: introducing China-related political texts in Congress
title_fullStr Studying the narrative of US policy towards China: introducing China-related political texts in Congress
title_full_unstemmed Studying the narrative of US policy towards China: introducing China-related political texts in Congress
title_short Studying the narrative of US policy towards China: introducing China-related political texts in Congress
title_sort studying the narrative of us policy towards china introducing china related political texts in congress
url https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01894-6
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