A responsible developing country : the People’s Republic of China’s climate change foreign policy and national image building

Abstract

The People’s Republic of China (China) is often regarded as `a climate criminal´ abroad. Regardless of its bad reputation, China has taken many challenging initiatives pursuing to achieve a low carbon future. Because naturally China does not want to be regarded as a threat, it pursues to improve its national image. This study researches China’s national image building in international climate politics. It also examines what kind of underlying interests there can be founded within the Chinese climate discourses.

The theoretical background of the study is realism, which acknowledges that the status and image of a nation-state are important sources of power. A nation-state’s reputation influences how the other states evaluate its international character and presume its intentions. The study uses critical discourse analysis as a research method to analyse the data, which consists of 16 China’s official climate statements represented in the global arena.

The study distinghuishes four different kinds of images that China discursively builds up in order to advance its national interests in international (climate) politics. The study claims that China attempts to persuade the other states to recognise that it is a responsible actor who takes voluntarily measures in order to mitigate climate change. Thus, China pursues to build up an image of a responsible actor that is not a threat to the other countries or the environment. In addition, China emphasises its image as a poor country in order to have exception of liability and to get financial support from developed countries.