{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/129698"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/129698","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Whataboutism with foreign affairs: How Chinese media leverage foreign news for distraction and legitimation","abstract":"Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2027-05-01","abstract_html":"Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2027-05-01","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Shen, Shuyuan"],"institution":"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Political Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Althaus, Scott","Winters, Matthew Stephen","Webb Williams, Nora","Yang, Yujeong"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-04-18","date_published":"2025-04-18","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:05Z","subjects":["Chinese Politics","Authoritarian Propaganda","Foreign News"],"languages":["en","eng"],"rights":["Copyright 2025 Shuyuan Shen"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129698","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Althaus, Scott","Winters, Matthew Stephen","Webb Williams, Nora","Yang, Yujeong"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Shen, Shuyuan"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-04-18","2025-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Political Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Chinese Politics","Authoritarian Propaganda","Foreign News"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2025 Shuyuan Shen"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129698"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2027-05-01","The student, Shuyuan Shen, accepted the attached license on 2025-04-17 at 23:18.","The student, Shuyuan Shen, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-04-17 at 23:35.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-04-18 at 16:00.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21828 on 2025-10-19 at 19:53:20","This dissertation examines the strategic use of foreign news as a propaganda tool in authoritarian regimes, focusing on China. While prior research emphasizes domestic narratives in authoritarian propaganda, this study highlights foreign news as a distinct form of propaganda for distraction and legitimation. Analyzing approximately two million social media posts from twelve major Chinese media outlets between 2011 and 2023, the dissertation first reveals that Chinese foreign news coverage focuses heavily on Western democracies, regional rivals, and the Middle East. Geographic and economic proximities increase a country’s media visibility, while cultural and political distances attract greater attention. The extensive coverage of foreign rivals rather than politically proximate countries as existing literature suggests indicates potential strategic intent. The dissertation then demonstrates that negative foreign news is strategically employed during economic downturns to distract public focus from domestic concerns. Statistical analyses link rising inflation and public attention to inflation and unemployment to increased negative coverage of foreign economic and political affairs. A pre-registered survey experiment confirms that negative foreign news effectively shifts attention away from domestic issues, outperforming positive domestic propaganda as a distraction instrument. Moreover, negative foreign news reinforces authoritarian legitimacy by exploiting national identity, anti-foreign predispositions, and cognitive negativity biases. Experimental and observational evidence confirms that such coverage undermines perceptions of foreign democracies while bolstering domestic regime support. Finally, the dissertation extends the study of foreign-focused information to foreign political entertainment, revealing that its influence on public perceptions is modest and inconsistent with a second survey experiment in China. By integrating insights from communication studies, political psychology, and authoritarian politics, this research expands the understanding of propaganda strategies and the political influence of foreign-focused information in non-democratic contexts."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Whataboutism with foreign affairs: How Chinese media leverage foreign news for distraction and legitimation"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Althaus, Scott","Winters, Matthew Stephen","Webb Williams, Nora","Yang, Yujeong"],"dc:creator":["Shen, Shuyuan"],"dc:date":["2025-04-18","2025-05"],"dc:description":["Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2027-05-01","The student, Shuyuan Shen, accepted the attached license on 2025-04-17 at 23:18.","The student, Shuyuan Shen, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-04-17 at 23:35.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-04-18 at 16:00.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21828 on 2025-10-19 at 19:53:20","This dissertation examines the strategic use of foreign news as a propaganda tool in authoritarian regimes, focusing on China. While prior research emphasizes domestic narratives in authoritarian propaganda, this study highlights foreign news as a distinct form of propaganda for distraction and legitimation. Analyzing approximately two million social media posts from twelve major Chinese media outlets between 2011 and 2023, the dissertation first reveals that Chinese foreign news coverage focuses heavily on Western democracies, regional rivals, and the Middle East. Geographic and economic proximities increase a country’s media visibility, while cultural and political distances attract greater attention. The extensive coverage of foreign rivals rather than politically proximate countries as existing literature suggests indicates potential strategic intent. The dissertation then demonstrates that negative foreign news is strategically employed during economic downturns to distract public focus from domestic concerns. Statistical analyses link rising inflation and public attention to inflation and unemployment to increased negative coverage of foreign economic and political affairs. A pre-registered survey experiment confirms that negative foreign news effectively shifts attention away from domestic issues, outperforming positive domestic propaganda as a distraction instrument. Moreover, negative foreign news reinforces authoritarian legitimacy by exploiting national identity, anti-foreign predispositions, and cognitive negativity biases. Experimental and observational evidence confirms that such coverage undermines perceptions of foreign democracies while bolstering domestic regime support. Finally, the dissertation extends the study of foreign-focused information to foreign political entertainment, revealing that its influence on public perceptions is modest and inconsistent with a second survey experiment in China. By integrating insights from communication studies, political psychology, and authoritarian politics, this research expands the understanding of propaganda strategies and the political influence of foreign-focused information in non-democratic contexts."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129698"],"dc:language":["en","eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2025 Shuyuan Shen"],"dc:subject":["Chinese Politics","Authoritarian Propaganda","Foreign News"],"dc:title":["Whataboutism with foreign affairs: How Chinese media leverage foreign news for distraction and legitimation"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Political Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:05Z"}