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The Belt and Road Initiative and Domestic Political Discourse in China: A “Co-occurrence of Words” Analysis of People’s Daily

This study analyses China’s domestic political discourse in accordance with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China’s rise in the international political economy has significantly changed the foreign policies of China. The BRI is one of the most important foreign policies, and it has been accompanied by a large amount of money raised by the Chinese government. Therefore, it encountered criticism that the government should focus more on domestic issues such as the poverty problem and complaints that the BRI was a waste of financial budgets. As a result, the Chinese government has presented various political discourses in order to govern public opinion in terms of the new policies. 
Based on the “co-occurrence of words” analysis of People’s Daily, this study examines the political discourses of the Chinese government and shows the following facts: First, the domestic political discourse in the initial stage of the BRI tended to emphasize the identity of the “homogeneous region” and to contain abstract values through history and culture. Second, in 2015 and 2016, as huge amounts of investment and foreign aid were accompanied by the BRI policy, criticism of the BRI policy was strengthened in China. The BRI was converted into an abstract concept involving universal values and became less correlated with the “infrastructure.” Third, the word “strategic conception” disappeared from articles related to the BRI in People’s Daily and was replaced by “initiative” after February 2016. Fourth, after the identity of the BRI was redefined as a “multilateral cooperation platform” in 2017, practical discourses such as “business carried out through investment projects” and “creating long-term profits such as expanding China’s financial influence and fostering trade partners” stood out. Fifth, as the identity of the multilateral cooperation platform has been strengthened since 2018, the discourse that the BRI is not merely limited to economic benefits but is also a “complex value-sharing platform with participants.” has emerged again.