Narrative Strategies of Mainstream Media in ASEAN Countries on Issues Related to the South China Sea and Their Communication Effects

In international relations, the role of media public opinion dissemination is not only the transmission of information, but also the carrier of power games and ideological competition. As a highly sensitive geopolitical issue, the dissemination of public opinion on the South China Sea not only influences the policy choices of countries inside and outside the region, but also profoundly shapes the international community’s perception and attitude towards the South China Sea issue. As important participants in the South China Sea issue, the mainstream media of ASEAN countries, through specific differentiated narrative strategies, choose the angle of reporting, construct narrative frameworks and specific discourses, which directly affect the public’s understanding of and attitudes towards the South China Sea issue, and indirectly play a role in the policy interactions between the countries, thus influencing the public opinion environment and the policy direction of the South China Sea issue. Taking mainstream media in ASEAN countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore as samples, this study constructs a “media narrative-geopolitics” linkage analysis framework to systematically explore their narrative frameworks, discourse characteristics and dissemination effects on the South China Sea issue.