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Cross-Strait Relations: A Thematic Discourse Analysis of China’s Taiwan Rhetoric Under Xi Jinping through the Tianxia Epistemology
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Languages, Department of Linguistics and Philology.
2025 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

The Rise of China has made the Taiwan question more complicated than ever within international security. Previous research has often analyzed it through Western frameworks of power, state interests, and security, but rarely from within China’s own philosophical framework. At the same time, the absence of moral and civilizational interpretation, as a result, leaves the CCP’s Taiwan discourse only partially understood. This thesis applies Thematic Analysis to 48 official speeches in the People’s Daily delivered under Xi Jinping’s leadership, covering the period from 2013–2025. It identifies six dominant themes that trace China’s rhetorical evolution from defensive sovereignty to moral legitimacy. This shift leaves just a little room for compromise. Guided by the PRC’s Global International Relations theory, particularly Relational Theory, Moral Realism, and the Tianxia System - a traditional Chinese concept of world order, the study argues that the CCP presents the unification of Taiwan not only as a moral duty but also as part of a broader civilizational vision for restoring harmony in the changing modern world order. What stands out most clearly is the paradox of the Chinese Tianxia vision. A view that shows an aspiration toward harmony, yet one that is constantly negotiated through power politics and the ongoing pursuit of legitimacy as a modern iteration of the Mandate of Heaven.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2025. , p. 57
Keywords [en]
Cross-Strait Relations, Taiwan question, discourse analysis, Xi Jinping, International Relations, Chinese Global IR, Relational Theory, Moral Realism, Tianxia, contemporary Chinese politics
National Category
Political Science (Excluding Peace and Conflict Studies) Studies of Specific Languages
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-577297OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-577297DiVA, id: diva2:2031169
Subject / course
Chinese
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Available from: 2026-01-22 Created: 2026-01-22 Last updated: 2026-01-22Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
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Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
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More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
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  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
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