English-Language Media Representations of the Fukushima Nuclear Wastewater Discharge in China and Japan: A Comparative Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

Despite growing attention to the controversy surrounding the Fukushima nuclear wastewater discharge, limited research has examined how the issue is discursively constructed by media outlets in China and Japan, the two principal stakeholders. To address this gap, this study draws on comparative critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine English-language media representations of the Fukushima nuclear wastewater discharge in Global Times (GT) and The Japan News (JN). It is found that appreciation is the most frequently used attitudinal resource across both outlets, followed by judgement and affect. However, GT is predominantly negative in its coverage, whereas JN tends toward more positive evaluations. In representing the event, GT portrays Japan as a potential threat to the global community and as an evader of its international responsibilities, while presenting the Chinese government as people-oriented, capable, and responsible. By contrast, JN portrays Japan as a coordinator of domestic solidarity and a problem-solver addressing nuclear wastewater issues, while depicting the Chinese government as an external actor whose policies bear on Japanese livelihoods. These divergent representations can be read as reflecting the differing ideological stances underlying each outlet’s coverage of this issue.