Media exposure and Chinese college students’ attitudes toward China’s maritime claims and disputes in the South and East China Seas

Abstract

China’s growing assertiveness in dealing with maritime territorial disputes has significant ramifications for regional peace and stability. Chinese government has been increasingly responsive to public opinion when making foreign policy. Media in China may play an important role in guiding public opinion and influencing the direction of China’ foreign policy. This study uses the survey method to compare the effect of differential media exposure on Chinese college students’ attitudes toward China’s maritime claims and disputes in the South and East China Seas. We find that intentional news exposure on China’s state media, commercial media, and online news outlets exerts no effect on Chinese college students’ attitudes toward China’s foreign policy. By contrast, incidental news exposure on WeChat (a relationship-oriented social media network) plays a larger role in increasing Chinese college students’ support for the forceful resolution of maritime disputes than Weibo (a news media site), when students communicate in a homogeneous environment. Moreover, cross-cutting exposure on Weibo is conducive to the development of moderate, reasoned, and open-minded opinions on China’s foreign relations, but students cannot reap the same benefits of cross-cutting exposure on WeChat. These findings support both the selective exposure hypothesis (intentional exposure) and the large media effect model (incidental exposure). We contribute to the literature by emphasizing the importance of differentiating media exposure mode, media content, and the relationship structure of social media when studying media effects on public opinion formation.

Keywords:

• media exposure
• WeChat & Weibo
• intentional media exposure
• incidental media exposure
• cross-cutting media exposure
• China’s maritime claims and disputes

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

Politicians use public opinion to guide their policy making and the media plays an important role in shaping public opinion and guiding policy making in China. In this study, we examine the relationship between media uses and Chinse college students’ attitudes toward China’s maritime claims and disputes in the South and East China Seas. We find that China’s official, commercial, and online news outlets do not have the capacity to manipulate public opinion to suit its quest for regional and global stability. In contrast, when students stumble upon news on social media such as WeChat (relationship oriented) and Weibo (information oriented), they are more likely to push government to take hawkish foreign policy positions if they communicate with other like-minded people; they are more inclined to support a mild approach toward maritime territorial disputes when they are exposed to different points of view on Weibo but not on WeChat.

Additional information

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledges the support from the University of Macau (Research Project: MYRG112(Y1-L2)-FSH11-WHY, University of Macau).

Notes on contributors

Hongyu Wang

Hongyu Wang is an associate professor in the Sociology Department, University of Macau. Her research interests include the study of associational participation, social networking use, and political participation in contemporary China. She has published her work in a number of scholarly journals, including American Journal of Sociology, Information, Communication & Society, Chinese Sociological Review, and Social Science Research.

Tianji Cai

Tianji Cai is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Macau. His research focuses on quantitative research methods, especially the issues of sampling weights in multilevel and longitudinal models. In addition, he is also interested in integrating genetics and sociology in the studies of social and health behaviors.