Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The chapters present in this book are structured chronologically so that each chapter deals with political debates on and media coverage of one event or period:It analyses reactions to the Xinhai Revolution and the founding of the Chinese Republic in 1912. In 1920s, American newspapers and magazines heavily criticized Britain's behaviour in China and pointed out that the USA was different from the other imperial powers in that it wanted to help China become a modern and democratic nation. It examines perceptions of the anti-foreign agitation from the May Thirtieth Movement in 1925 to the Nanjing Incident in 1927. It looks at portrayals of Japanese expansion in China from the Manchurian Incident in 1931 to the Sino-Japanese War and it deals with reactions to the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War in 1949.