ABSTRACT
Findings demonstrated that the media narratives on each of the three investigated subjects (China, Beijing, and China-made vaccines) were separated and ingrained. When the media narratives were in favour of one of the subjects, there was no identification that the other two subjects would be narratively benefitted. Likewise, if the media narratives were against any subject, the other subjects would not necessarily be harmed. Since the launches of the mass inoculation campaigns in Indonesia and the Philippines, findings showed that The Jakarta Post’s narratives on China were fairly neutral. However, research outputs indicated that The Jakarta Post’s narratives on Beijing, alongside the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s narratives on both China and Beijing, remained fairly negative. These findings reveal that Beijing’s vaccine diplomacy did not help ameliorate the media narratives in Indonesia and the Philippines, hinting at its inability to win more soft powers from the two newspaper outlets during the implementation of the mass inoculation campaigns in Indonesia and the Philippines.
