ECFA and globalization

ECFA is part of a larger trend of globalization and its corresponding regional integrations.

Many of the arguments for and against ECFA have previously surfaced during various trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The arguments against Free Trade Agreements (FTA) such as

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NAFTA include the erosion of political, cultural and economic sovereignty (Jackson, 1997;

Boudreaux, 2004; Maklin, 2009; Rickards, 2010). The arguments for FTAs have included enhanced economic competiveness, anti-isolationism and global integration (Rickards, 2010).

Unlike a national FTA such NAFTA, ECFA is much more similar in structure to Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between China and Hong Kong (Rickards, 2010).

Therefore, many consider ECFA and CEPA to be more akin to an intra-Chinese economic agreement than a true FTA as those signed by sovereign countries (CNA, 2010; Tung, 2010).

Many in Taiwan point out that under CEPA Hong Kong has been both economically and politically marginalized and brought under a tighter centralized influence or control from Beijing (The Liberty Times Editorial, 2009).

ECFA is preferential trade agreement between the People‘s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan). It was signed on June 29, 2010 in Chongqing, China.

ECFA is the most comprehensive agreement to date between the two political adversaries (Chung, 2010). The ROC retreated to Taiwan after losing the Chinese Civil War (1927-1949), yet to this day a peace treaty has never been signed, and both sides are technically still at war (Staff writer, 2011, February 15).

ECFA was embraced by Taipei in the hope that Beijing would ease pressure on Taiwan and allow it to sign other Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with other countries. It is believed that if Taipei can maintain a trade pact with China and sign FTAs with other countries, this should stop the erosion of Taiwan‘s economic competitiveness (Chung, 2010). Yet, as previously mentioned many critics have considered ECFA to be uncomfortably similar in structure to the trade agreements Beijing has with Hong Kong (CEPA) and Macau, which are commonly known as ―the one country, two systems‖ model (Chang, 2010).

Currently, ECFA addresses tariff issues on 539 Taiwanese products and 267 Chinese products (Chung, 2010). It is considered to offer Taipei a very competitive advantage of

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nearly US$ 14 billion compared to China‘s US$ 3 billion. Under the terms of the trade agreement China will open 11 service sectors while Taiwan will expand access in 7 sectors.

In Taiwan one of the most vocal concerns to ECFA is that it will hollow out Taiwan‘s core industries and flood the island with Chinese white collar workers (Chung, 2010).

Pro-independence groups argue that ECFA will rapidly lead to eventual unification with China as it opens Taiwan to Chinese investments and this capital is designed to integrate the two economies (Lin, 2009). These are both similar to reactions that have appeared in pervious FTA arguments that have caught the public‘s imagination (Jackson, 1997; Boudreaux, 2004;

Maklin, 2009; Rickards, 2010). The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) organized large-scale anti-ECFA protests took place days before the agreement was signed (Ho & Kao, 2010).

The present thesis intends to employ a discourse analysis to understand a complicate issue such as ECFA, not its specific legal or trade contents, but its implications such as whether it will erode Taiwan‘s political, economic and cultural sovereignty or bring it closer to China.

The following chapters will address the theories and concepts relevant to discourse analysis and understand news reports of ECFA in Taiwan‘s three English newspapers

16 2. Review of literature: Discourse analysis 2.1 Discourse analysis

More than a tool of for studying language, discourse analysis is a method to establish an interpretive framework. According to van Dijk (1995), we live in a world of ideological constructions and these constructions give us our understanding and knowledge on how we relate to politics, policies and the economy. To establish and reinforce these ideological constructions, they must enter a cycle of being produced and then more importantly reproduced (van Dijk, 1995). These cycles of production and reproduction are most

commonly created in the discourse of public text traditionally found in newspapers (van Dijk, 1995). Fairclough (1993; 1995) contends that discourse contains social identities, social relation, and systems of knowledge and belief about the world, methodologically legitimizing discourse analysis in the study of the news and editorials of these English newspapers.

It is important for scholars and the public to understand the structures that control our media discourse also controls its access (Van Dijk, 1989). Various scholars have created in-depth bodies of work that demonstrate that media access is a key dimension of control

(Chomsky & Herman, 1988; van Dijk, 1989). The media creates and then reinforces this as a public consensus when dealing with the manufacturing and distribution of what it considers news content. This media created public consensus then complements the dominant

discourses of the ruling elite (Chomsky & Herman, 1998; van Dijk, 1989; Seedat, 1999;

MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008). It is thus important to examine especially who is speaking in the text and the groups that they represent. Does the newspaper offer a balance of voices and opinions or does it use a strategy of only including carefully selected actors to strengthen its ideological position? Thus discourse analysis can help reveal the dominant and non-dominant ways ECFA has been discussed un Taiwan‘s English newspapers.

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2.1.1 Discourses create inquiry through their construction

A newspaper‘s discourse is a carefully constructed form of communication that helps their audience understand an event from a particular point of view (MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008).

Parker (1992) indentifies the various elements of discourses traditionally used in the print media. He argues that these elements of discourse are realized in text and are about objects and subjects; they create a coherent system of meaning that link to other discourses; they mirror their own patterns of speaking; they are historically located and support corresponding institutions that reproduce and reinforce power relations that have ideological effects (as cited in MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008). More importantly, Parker (1992) believes that a news

discourse is not created in vacuum, therefore one of his criteria is to speculate with others on the meaning of what is being said. Finally, by speculating with others creates a more realistic interpretation of the social nature of discourse and how it effects our perception (Parker, 1992).

Burr (1995) establishes that discourses are based on a set of meanings and metaphors.

These discourses are representations of the stories, images, and statements that lead to the creation of certain perspective of events (MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008). Discourses may offer subjective truth claims that attempt to be objective in how they interpret our important events.

These interpretations may become our version of reality and they allow us to form opinions which we would not be previously aware of (MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008).

As discourses are used as a technique to frame and establish agendas, they create public knowledge about specific events (London, 1993; MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008). London (1993) argues that a frame is the central organizing idea for making sense of relevant events and suggesting what is at issue. News and information has no intrinsic value unless embedded in a meaningful context, which organizes and lends it coherence (London, 1993). News stories can be understood as narratives, which include information and factual elements that also

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carry an implicit message and a newspaper‘s subjectivity (London, 1993).

It would not be possible for the public to understand such a complicated event as ECFA without the media first informing, and then offering its interpretations as the event unfolds.

This thesis is based around these core developments of how Taiwan‘s English newspaper are informing and interpreting ECFA‘s impact both domestically and internationally. As each newspaper creates its own unique narrative through its headlines, articles and editorials it is then possible to link other issues such as how these publications indentify with Taiwan‘s position in relation to China and the world.

2.2 News headlines and lead sentences

A news headline is the gateway to an article or editorial. News headlines are the most visible method of attracting a reader‘s attention and quickly communicate a newspaper‘s values to its audience (van Dijk, 1985). In addition, a news headline can quickly

communicate complicate social and discursive interactions all within a few words (van Dijk, 1985; MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008). News headlines are the most persuasive aspect of a text, however the lead sentences then reinforces these themes by drawing the reader in. All news relies on and is influenced by social schemata and social representations of how we interpret our values (van Dijk, 1985; Morrison, 2006; MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008). More importantly headlines and lead sentences help readers in their characterization of news and indentify with the ―relevance‖ of the event (van Dijk, 1985). Therefore the ―relevance structure

communicates to the reader‖ which information in the text is most important or prominent (van Dijk, 1985, p. 70).

Some critics claim that headlines may be ambiguous, but to the public these headlines tend to hold deeper meanings and associations through the use of their linguistical features such as puns and emotional vocabulary (Develotte & Rechniewski, 2002; MacRitchie & Seedat,

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2008). Newspapers and the print media in general use influential social values in

combination with headlines and lead sentences to create a persuasive message (van Dijk, 1985;

MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008). When reading headlines and the corresponding lead sentences the public can quickly create a roadmap on how the article will most likely frame an event.

Simply put, when the public is scanning a newspaper or website their first point of contact is with the headlines. It is thus logical to deduce that headlines are one of the most influential parts of a newspapers message because they reinforce the article‘s key messages (MacRitchie

& Seedat, 2008).

As already established, a headline is the reader‘s first point of contact with a newspaper.

Potential readers usually scan the headlines and lead sentnces before making a decision to continue or abandon reading a newspaper in either print or online (van Dijk, 1988). As people live in a world filled with messages competing for attention, a newspaper‘s headline may be the only aspect of its overall message that has the ability to persuade a potentially a reader in a momentary scan of the content. A headline showcases to the reader the

importance of the issue within its message, and its impact relies on the persuasion power of the linguistic construct of vivid, forceful and dramatic vocabulary (van Dijk, 1988).

Newspaper headlines offer flexibility and represent an important message the publication is trying to highlight to its readers. In addition, editorials have been established to reinforce the underlying message structure of a newspaper‘s headlines (van Dijk, 1996b). According to Lee and Lin (2006), a newspaper‘s editorial plays a special role as it is written to be

persuasive compared to the more objective stance it takes with its non-editorial content. This study will demonstrate the similarities in messaging structure in how a Taiwanese English newspaper writes it headlines in comparison to its editorial stance. This paper will pay special attention to the newspaper‘s editorial page as it is a special arena where the publication enters the public debate by taking an ideological position on issues that it

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considers important (Hacket and Zhao, 1994; Le, 2003). Therefore it is fitting that this study uses discourse analysis to find out how ECFA is being ‖reconstructed‖ in the English dailies to Taiwan‘s foreign audiences. Even though this study is on newspapers it does not

differentiate between hard copy content (print) and online content. As more readers migrate to the Internet newspapers have in effect become publishing hybrids.

2.3 Voices and actors in discourse

The media is a powerful social and discursive institution that helps regulate and organize social life (Li, 2009). The media plays an important role in the production of social

knowledge, and the creation of values and beliefs through various linguistical methods (van Dijk, 1993; Fairclough, 1995; Fowler, 1996; Li. 2009).

Studies demonstrate that persuasive and strategic news discourses imply that the goals of the dominant class appear to mirror the interests of the greater society (Kellner, 1995; Louw, 2001; MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008). More importantly these discourses reinforce the creation and maintenance of key socio political and economic institutions, beliefs and values that appear to be universal and normal to the entire society (Kellner, 1995; Louw, 2001;

MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008). Therefore, if news is only a selection of selective sources that fall in-line with the social values that the media represents, then it is necessary to understand which voices and actors the media includes or omits when covering an event of impact.

As mentioned before, news cannot be formed in an objective vacuum. Therefore, it is safe to argue that news construction is based on symbiotic relationships between influential voices and actors (MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008). Many times these voices and actors are professional communicators, that include public relations agents and established institutions that give validity to how the event is being covered (MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008). When certain voices become familiar and consistent, they take on the role of a professional communicator (actors)

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who then reinforces the image the media is trying to establish (MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008).

Scholars argue that these professional communicators (actors) use symbols and specific language that creates the illusion of a common vision and public consensus (Louw, 2001;

Matheson, 2005; MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008).

For a theoretical framework to have merit, it must examine language use and language variations, such as what are the particular representations of the social actors: what are their social identities, and the version of reality they build a discourse around (van Dijk, 1993;

Fairclough, 1995; Li, 2009). This is very similar to the 20 Steps used by Parker (1992), although his framework builds a more mythological structure in breaking down and understanding discourse (MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008).

As previously discussed strong evidence suggests that elites use media discourses to reinforce their legitimacy and authority in framing socio-political policies for public

acceptance and action (Chomsky & Herman, 1998; van Dijk, 1989). News then establishes and fuels the elite agenda and creates a consensus, and that includes the depth of the discourse and how it will be communicated (Louw, 2001). This thesis will identify within Taiwan News, The China Post and the Taipei Times who is given a voice and see if there is any relationship to them having a position influence. Many symbolic power structures play out in the media, and the debate surrounding ECFA will provide an insight into how these are portrayed to their English audiences (van Dijk, 1995). It has been well established that the media can be classified as a limited social resource that maintains barriers of open public participation (van Dijk, 1989). Chomsky and Herman (1988) have argued that the public is unable to shape media discourse because of the corporate ownership structure of the media.

In Taiwan however, it is clear that the media follows an ownership structure that is not based on a profit-oriented model. This is unique to Chomsky and Herman‘s argument in that it appears that in Taiwan politics may be more important than money. However, this digresses

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from their underlying assumption that the media is part of bigger structure that works toward its own best interest.

Elites maintain a considerable amount of authority in shaping public discourse because they have the most say in social situations and have the necessary influence within our institutions (Chomsky & Herman, 1988; van Dijk, 1989). Elites have the power to influence public opinions and ideologies because they have created a relationship of mutual dependence between themselves and the media (van Dijk, 1989). Media elites are also deeply tied into this relationship as they need other elites to become the sources, actors and more importantly the topics of interest (van Dijk, 1989). Finally, it is the political elites who especially need the media to legitimatize and demonstrate their power to the public (van Dijk, 1989). This link establishing Taiwan‘s English newspapers to an elite structure has been established, and it follows that these newspapers should adhere to media/elite dynamic when discoursing ECFA.

2.4 Dominant discourses as reproduction of power structures

As it has been established newspapers play an important role in public communication, and more importantly the information we read in them maintains a high level of recall (van Dijk, 1989; Lo & Chang, 2006). They are a part of a fundamental process in the production and reproduction of social power structures, and it is through the creation of these social power structures that we gain our understanding of the world (Chomsky & Herman, 1988;

van Dijk, 1989; van Dijk, 1995; Guo, Hin, Chen, 2007). In addition, previous research has shown that newspapers are an important vehicle of public discourse that can create a public consensus or challenge the dominant discourse previously established by others (Kellner, 1995; Consalvo, 1998; Seedat, 1999; Picard & Brody, 2000; Louw, 2001; MacDonald, 2003;

MacRitchie & Seedat, 2008).

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Li (2009) contends that newspapers play a critical role in creating national identities and acts as an important channel of debate in framing the national agenda. As this thesis takes the position that ECFA as a trade agreement in practice represents how Taiwanese view their national identity in relation to their social and political identity with China. According to Anderson (1991) and Hall (1996), a nation is very similar to an imagined community that is built on how a society creates various symbolic relationships with itself. This imagined community is built on an ongoing process of creating a national culture through discourse that is a part of our ‗systems of cultural representation‘ (Hall, 1996, p. 612). The imagined

community is a direct challenge to our previous notions that a national society is based on geography, linguistics or even a shared cultural background (Anderson, 1991; Hall, 1996;

Lynch, 2004). The naming structuring in the Taipei Times, The Taiwan News, and The China Post can show how this process is being (re)created in Taiwan.

The concept of nationalism is an ideology that is used to cement the nation into its imagined construct of a natural community (Billig, 1995). Therefore, for nationalism to appear natural, a daily ideological ritual must be played out. Known as ‗banal nationalism‘

(Billig, 1995), this daily ideological ritual of is played out in the media, and it is the media that reinforces ideas of what our imagined community is (Anderson, 1991; Billig, 1995; Guo, et al., 2007). Lynch (2004) argues that in Taiwan there are various forces at play actively trying to either create a Chinese or Taiwanese national identity. It is plausible to assume that since only one of the three Taiwanese English newspapers has kept its original name (The China Post) that this newspaper could be aligned to a pan-Chinese identity structure.

Therefore, this study may also demonstrate if this concept of ‗national imagination‘ is being recreated within Taiwan‘s three English newspapers when reporting ECFA to influence how their foreign readers and we ‗see‘ Taiwan and the Taiwanese people in relation to China.

Many scholars have argued that the concept of a national community is allowed to expand

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and be (re)produced through the mass communication of ideas that newspapers diffuse so well (Anderson, 1991; Billig, 1995; Guo, et al., 2007). This re(production) is played out in headlines, articles and editorials, and they offer us a unique window in understanding how a newspaper helps build a national identity, which then in turn become shared through a

discourse that links the readers of the same newspaper (Anderson, 1991). The analysis of the headlines, lead sentences, and voices and actors in the articles and editorials should be able to reveal the power structure and corresponding ideology of each newspaper.

25 3. Collecting Data for Discourse Analysis

3.1 A Brief History of English Newspapers in Taiwan

This thesis will analyze the discourses in news about ECFA in Taiwan‘s three English newspapers to examine their ideological or political positions in communicating Taiwan‘s identity to their international audiences. To this goal, a brief history of English newspapers in Taiwan is first presented, and then details on how news articles are selected for analysis will be discussed.

Since 1949, Taiwan has had the distinction of maintaining a continuous tradition of

Since 1949, Taiwan has had the distinction of maintaining a continuous tradition of