ABSTRACT
This chapter is an extension of the discourse on Philippine newspaper narratives on China, Beijing, and China-made vaccines. Research outputs from this chapter aim at addressing the inquiry into how the Philippine Daily Inquirer fashioned the images of China, Beijing, and China-made vaccines in order to hint at how much China’s influential power was gained or lost in the Philippine media market amid the COVID-19 situation. First, this chapter presents the number of times the words “China,” “Beijing,” and “Chinese vaccine/Sinovac/Sinopharm” were used positively or negatively by month and year of the eligible, relevant, and selected newspaper articles published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Second, the chapter studies whether selected newspaper articles encompassed themes that are in favour of, neutral to, or against the interest and image of China, Beijing, and China-made vaccines. By understanding how these subjects were described and fashioned, this chapter can examine how China (i.e. the country), Beijing (i.e. the ruling government), and China-made vaccines (i.e. a public health and diplomatic tool) were viewed by the Philippine Daily Inquirer and its readers. Presenting the views over time allows for the examination of the trajectories of perceptions of China, Beijing, and China-made vaccines, providing insight into whether the perceptions improved, remained, or worsened.
