ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the UK press’s representation of contemporary UK-China relations by analysing how four major UK newspapers have covered China in the 21st century. This chapter begins with a discussion of China’s rise in the international arena and the changing UK-China relations. After a literature review on the UK press’s previous coverage of China, including a discussion of the portrayal of China during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, this chapter presents empirical analyses of the UK coverage of China in relation to three eras: the ‘golden era’ of 2015–2016; the Brexit era from 2016 to 2019; and the Covid-19 pandemic era in 2020. The chapter suggests that the UK press agenda regarding China went through three stages: recognition, accommodation, and concern. The stages were influenced by the UK’s changing policy agenda, and the changing roles of China and the UK in the world. China was not always portrayed as hostile, but while UK-China economic cooperation was seen as important, the view of China as a threat increasingly became more prominent after 2016 in both right-wing and left-wing UK newspapers.
