Abstract

COVID-19 has significantly altered various aspects of the world, such as the economy, trade, tourism, social interactions, education, geopolitics, and the global perception of some countries. China's response to the pandemic, including its effectiveness in controlling the virus, economic and social recovery, vaccine development, and distribution, has been highly efficient on a global scale. Additionally, China's rapidly increasing influence in international relations has drawn worldwide attention. As a result of China's growing global presence, the study of its national image has become a popular topic in communication research, both within China and internationally. This study analyzes the image of China as it is represented in American mainstream newspapers during COVID-19. Content analysis was performed on items collected from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. The analysis finds that American mainstream newspapers present a neutral and diverse China in terms of economy, culture, environment, and China’s handling of the pandemic but depict a negative China in terms of politics, social issues, technology development, as well as Zero-Covid policy. The implication of these findings is to present China’s national image as constructed by American mainstream newspapers amid COVID-19. Meanwhile, it explored the prominent frame by which American mainstream newspapers portray China’s image and the relationship between frames and tones used in portraying China’s image.