Rationale of the research
In modern times, with the rapid development of technology, the mass media, especially online news are playing an increasingly important role in information providing Considered as one of the primary sources of information, news discourse is generally believed to be objective, impartial, unambiguous and faithful in reporting events However, there are at times different versions of the same event are presented in a wide array of news sources, leaving room for doubt about the value-free and unbiased information journalists provide for news readers Is there existing manipulative power towards media? Does news show slanted views towards the events? The answers can be found in the light of critical discourse analysis in which according to Fowler (1991), language of the press is never neutral, and news reports are laden with values and ideologies That is the power of media when it can influence people‟s cognition and form people‟s attitudes and ideologies It is presented clearly when there are at times of political tension and conflict The language use is manipulated by political orientation Media then are exploited drastically by each side to correct their image, persuade people, and gain their support against their opponents (Nhung, 2012) Accordingly, in order to understand the true nature of news reports, namely the social and power relationship, the hidden ideologies, and the way they present people and issues, it is necessary to employ CDA
The relationship between Vietnam and China is considered one of the most complicated, tense and conflict-prone, in spite of the geographical link as well as the relational intimacy Efforts have been continuously exerted to maintain cooperative environment between the two antagonist “friends”; the connectedness, however, at times has been interrupted by political tension towards the overlapping claims of sovereignty in the sea The seemingly intractable nature of dispute over the sovereignty in the South China Sea (or the East Sea as it is called in Vietnam – the name the author used later in the study) in recent years has attracted considerable attention among politicians, journalists and scholars For over one year, the tension has been covered on the media As a Vietnamese, this issue has aroused my concerns Moreover, few attempts have so far been made in analyzing language use in online news coverage related to this topic of two directly involved countries Therefore, I attempted to conduct a study involving the East Sea dispute on Chinese and Vietnamese online media coverage in English language under the light of critical discourse analysis to explore how ideologies of the media institutions construct their representation of reality to their readers.
Scope of the research
In this study, I would give spotlight on the online news reports on the East Sea dispute from May 1, 2014 to July 16, 2014 I am well aware that the wider the range of data achieved, the more reliable the study result will be Nevertheless, due to the constraint of time and the limited length of a minor thesis, in this study, not all Chinese and Vietnamese news reports were probed, but just twelve from the Global
Times, Xinhua Agency News of China and the Vietnamplus, Vietnamnet of Vietnam
As this is a pure linguistic study, the author is not, by any means or in any way, expressing her own political point of view The study, therefore, does not support any political parties or aim at changing anyone‟s political stance It is for academic purpose only.
Aim and objectives of the research
The study primarily aims to analyze Chinese and Vietnamese online media coverage of the East Sea dispute under the light of critical discourse analysis
To achieve this aim, the following objectives are set:
to investigate the manner in which the conflict and main participants are approached and represented in the media discourse
to explore the journalists‟ underlying ideologies via analyzing the grammatical and lexical features of the news reports, from which revealing a close relationship between ideologies and media language for political purposes
In order to realize these objectives, the study is intended to answer the following questions:
What are the underlying ideologies of each side with respect to the issue of the dispute?
How are such ideologies encoded in the discourse of the news agencies?
These questions are based on several assumptions First, the news reports are influenced by certain values of the producers, including both the journalists and the media institutions Second, all news agencies can reflect different viewpoints on the disputed issue as well as the parties involved Third, and as a result, their ideologies can be different.
Significance of the research
This study is expected to provide theoretical and practical benefits In relation to theoretical benefit, the findings of this study are expected to enrich the knowledge about critical discourse analysis In relation to practical benefits, the study and its findings are hopefully useful for the researchers and readers on building critical awareness towards the news which is seen in daily life.
Research methodology
To carry out this study, the following procedures and techniques involving both qualitative and quantitative research method will be employed
CDA as an approach will be applied in the text analysis to uncover hidden ideologies The three stages of CDA given by Norman Fairclough (2001) will be used with Halliday‟s Systemic-functional grammar
This paper takes twelve authentic news reports written in English from both China‟s and Vietnam‟s new agencies, among which five are from China‟s top three authoritative media – the Global Times and Xinhua Agency News, and another seven are collected from Vietnam‟s top authoritative and influential media – the
Vietnamplus, Vietnamnet The news reports in the research are selected in a range of time from May 1, 2014 to July 16, 2014
For further description of the research method, see chapter 2.
Design of the research
The study consists of three parts They are:
Part A – Introduction – presents the rationale, scope, aim and objectives, significance, general methodology, and design of the study
Part B – Development – constitutes the main part and consists of three chapters
First, this chapter gives an overview of CDA – its definitions, principles and approaches Then Fairclough‟s three-dimensional framework, Halliday‟s Systemic- functional theory, especially transitivity are concerned in this chapter Finally, the overview of related studies is also presented in the chapter
Chapter 2: Methodology and analytical procedures
This chapter presents the background to the dispute After that, the methodology and data analysis procedures are mentioned
Chapter 3: A critical discourse analysis of online news about the East Sea dispute
The CDA procedure addressed by Fairclough and Halliday‟s Systemic-functional theory are used to analyze the news reports to find out the connection between ideologies and language use
Part C – Conclusion – summarizes the main findings of the study, draws the common and different features in terms of transitivity and overwording utilized in online media coverage of both sides Then suggestions for further research are offered.
LITERATURE REVIEW
An overview of CDA
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), stemming out from Critical Linguistics (CL), emerged in the 1970s by a group of linguists including Fowler et al (1979) and Kress and Hodge (1979) It was, after that, further developed in the early 1990s by Norman Fairclough (1989), Ruth Wodak (1989), and Van Dijk (1998) Since then it has become one of the most influential branches of discourse analysis, marking a turning point in linguistic research from the purely formal to the functional aspect of language
According to Fairclough (2001), discourse, written or spoken, is not merely created by linguistic structures and orders As language is a social semiotic, it is, on one hand, affected systematically by social circumstances, reflecting social structures, and social practices (Titscher et al, 2000; Fairclough, 2001; Weiss and Wodak, 2003; Wodak and Weiss, 2004, Jứrgensen and Phillips, 2002) On the other hand, it also affects reversely the society to shape, retain, or change social relationships (Titscher et al, 2000; Fairclough, 2001, Wodak and Meyer, 2001; Jọger and Maier,
2009) Therefore, CDA, seen as an approach to language analysis, identifies the correlation between linguistic production and social variables, or more specific, the link of power, struggles over power on the composition of discourse Put differently, by means of CDA, the traces of ideologies pertaining to power relations can be exposed in discourse
By CDA I mean discourse analysis which aims to systematically explore often opaque relationships of causality and determination between (a) discursive practices, events and texts, and (b) wider social and cultural structures, relations, and processes; to investigate how such practices, events and texts arise out of and are ideologically shaped by relations of power and struggles over power; and to explore how the opacity of these relationships between discourse and society is itself a factor securing power and hegemony (Fairclough, 2001: 132-3)
Sharing the same idea with Fairclough but specifying in more details the term power relations in Fairclough‟s definition, Van Dijk, Wodak and Meyer defined CDA as a type of discourse analysis studying how social power abuse, dominance, discrimination and inequality are “expressed, signaled, constituted” (Wodak and Meyer, 2001:2) as well as resisted in discourse in the social and political context (Van Dijk: 2001:352) CDA is, as Van Dijk (2008:72) compared, “an important diagnostic tool for the assessment of social and political dominance”
From these points of view, it can be stated that CDA is an approach to language analysis encompassing the interdependence of language, power and ideology With thorough description, explanation and critique, CDA aims to defamiliarize the
“naturalized” language used in the discourse, then reveal the power or struggles over power as well as ideologies hidden
Although the pioneers in CDA such as Fairclough, Wodak, and Van Dijk contributed different methods for CDA, they all shared the same viewpoints of CDA‟s principles
CDA‟s primary interest is to address social problems It does not rely solely on any particular discipline or discourse theory but a multidisciplinary approach and methodology to reveal such problems
Power relations are discursive That is CDA explains how social relations of power are exercised and negotiated in and through discourse
Discourse constitutes society and culture It means that the language use in discourse can contribute to reproducing and transforming social structures and practice, including relations of power
Discourse is ideological because linguistic features and structures are not arbitrary but purposeful in a particular social context By means of discourse, power relations are produced, exercised, and reproduced
Discourse is historical in the sense that texts attain their meanings by existing in specific social, cultural and ideological contexts, time and space
A socio-cognitive approach is needed to understand how relations between texts and society are mediated
Discourse analysis is interpretive and explanatory
Discourse is a form of social action
1.1.3.1 Van Dijk’s socio-cognitive approach
Van Dijk‟s approach to CDA is a socio-cognitive approach It is concerned with the relationship between discourse, cognition and society
Discourse is not simply an isolated textual or dialogic structure rather it is a complex communicative event that also embodies a social context, featuring participants (and their properties) as well as production and reception processes
He emphasized the role of social cognition in connecting the discourse structures and social structures, from which social representations, attitudes, and ideologies of social actors are exposed According to Van Dijk, social cognition, or “mental representations and processes of group members”, controls how people act, speak or write or how they understand the social practices of others (Van Dijk 1995:2)
Therefore, he developed a socio-cognitive framework consisting of three parts: social analysis, cognitive analysis, and discourse analysis
Van Dijk stated that one of the focal issues when analyzing discourse is to identify how the mental representations “are often articulated along Us versus Them dimensions” He assumed that generally speakers of one group tend to represent themselves or their own group in positive terms Whereas the other groups are depicted in negative terms (Van Dijk, 1995:2-22) From the assumption, he proposed a framework to clarify such an ideological dichotomy in discourse as the following:
1 Examining the context of the discourse: historical, political or social background of a conflict and its main participants
3 Identifying positive and negative opinions about Us versus Them
4 Making explicit the presupposed and the implied
5 Examining all formal structures: lexical choice and syntactic structure, in a way that helps to (de)emphasize polarized group opinions (Van Dijk, 1998:
1.1.3.2 Fairclough’s systemic functional grammar approach
As noted in Jứrgensen and Phillips (2002), with Systemic Functional Grammar, Fairclough‟s approach viewed language in a dialectic relationship with society That is, it “both reproduces and changes knowledge, identities and social relations including power relations, and at the same time is also shaped by other social practices and structures” (Jứrgensen and Phillips, 2002: 65) In other words, it is socially constitutive and socially shaped (Fairclough and Wodak, 1997:258)
According to Fairclough (2003), the dialectic relation is realized through three aspects: social events (texts), social practices (orders of discourse) and social structures Consequently, his framework comprises three parts, that is analysis of text, analysis of discursive practice and analysis of sociocultural practice
1 Text analysis is concerned with linguistic analysis pertaining to four criteria: vocabulary, grammar, semantics and cohesion-organization above the sentence level (Fairclough, 2003) Halliday‟s Systemic functional linguistics is exploited for detailed textual analysis
2 As Fairclough (2003) defined, “discursive practices” involves the production and consumption of texts Thus, the second analysis – analysis of discursive practice – is an analysis of how texts are produced, received and interpreted
In other words, this stage of analysis depends on background information the participants have, which affects the text production and consumption process
3 The sociocultural analysis is concerned with economy, politics and culture of a communicative event (Fairclough, 2003)
(The detailed framework with three stages will be discussed later in Part 1.2)
As can be seen, though the three-dimension framework of Fairclough is quite similar to Van Dijk‟s three dimensions of ideology analysis, Van Dijk considered social cognition mediates between discourse and society while for Fairclough text production and consumption mediate between discourse and the social structures (Wodak and Meyer, 2001)
Proposing a three-dimension framework with a step-by-step analysis and a list of detailed, concrete suggested questions for textual analysis, Fairclough‟s framework would help analysts, especially the novice analyze more easily Accordingly, the researcher chose Fairclough‟s framework for her thesis.
Fairclough‟s three-dimension framework of CDA
The first stage concerns with the formal properties of the text and focuses on three aspects: vocabulary, grammar and textual structure (Fairclough, 2001:21)
Fairclough points out that the choice of vocabulary, grammar and textual structures to make up the formal features of a text is determined by three values: (1) Experiential value – an indication of how the text producer experiences the natural and social world, using his/her personal knowledge and beliefs; (2) Relational value – the aspect of a text that manifests social relations (3) Expressive value – an evaluation of an aspect of reality or social identities (Al Ghazali, 2007: 4)
According to Fairclough (2001: 92-93), the text‟s formal properties are realized via ten main questions with a number of sub-questions These detailed questions assist the analysts in exposing the discourse producer‟s ideologies embedded in the form of naturalized language use (See Appendix 1) b Interpretation
This stage involves the relationship between text and interaction At this stage, a text is seen not only as the end product of the production process but also as a resource in the interpretation process The features of text and context (situational and intertextual context) serve as cues for being interpreted on the basis of a background of common-sense assumptions (MR – Member Resources)
As shown in Figure 1, there are six major elements of MR, in which a distinction should be made between MR for interpreting the situational context (the external cues such as physical situation, properties of participants, what has previously been said), and for intertextual context (Fairclough, 2001) While the former involves knowledge of social orders, the latter needs knowledge of interactional history.
To sum up, in the interpretative stage, those factors relating to how people produce and interpret the discourse (textual features, context and background assumptions of MR) are taken into consideration for interpreting the discourse c Explanation
This last stage concerns with the “relationship between interaction and social context with the social determination of the processes of production and interpretation of their social effect” (Fairclough, 2001:21-22) These social determinations and effects are mediated by MR: that is social structures shape MR while MR in turn shapes discourses; and discourses sustain or change MR, which in turn sustains or changes structures
At this stage, usually the underlying ideological perspectives are exposed
Halliday‟s systemic functional approach and CDA
Systemic functional grammar (SFG) is an approach to language in which language use, instead of being the arbitrary selection, seems to be purposeful in a particular social context By means of systemic functional approach, formal features of a text are analyzed to discover the producer‟s purposes in employing a particular linguistic choice, from which the ideologies and the social structures as well as struggles hidden in the discourse might be unravelled This is actually what critical discourse analysts do and, therefore, that is the reason why this approach is normally applied in doing a CDA
In Systemic functional linguistics, language is structured to perform three metafunctions:
Ideational metafunction: serves to express both people‟s experience of the outside world and their inner world of consciousness Halliday and Matthiessen (2013) categorized ideational metafunction into experiential and logical metafunction, of which the former deals with representing experiences, our perceptions of the natural world (Thompson, 2004:39;
Halliday and Matthiessen, 2013:30) It deals with the question “What is going on?” and is realized through transitivity system that construes the world of experience into six process types
Interpersonal metafunction: is about the social world in which the relationship between speakers and hearers is focused It is concerned with clauses as exchange Speakers can use language expressions to convey their comments, attitudes, evaluations and to set up, maintain or change social relationship of interlocutors Helping to find the answer for the question
“How do we use language to exchange?”, it is realized mainly through mood and modality
The textual metafunction: is about the verbal world, especially the flow of information in a text It involves the creation of a text, or more specifically, it deals with creating relevance between parts of what is being said and between the text and context When people are talking about their experience of the world or interacting with other people, they should make the conveyed message into a coherent whole The question “How is the content of the text organized?” via Theme/Rheme system can help recognize the thematic structure.
Transitivity
Transitivity, in essence, construes the world of experience into a finite set of process types It is a part of the ideational function of clause The “processes” (related to physical or not, state or relation) are the product of our conception of the world or our viewpoints that are transferred through language (Halliday, 1970 cited in Zhang,
2014) Thus, the selection of “processes” in a text can be ideologically significant
Transitivity is employed to help identify what social, cultural, ideological and political factors determine the selection of process types in a particular discourse (Fairclough, 2001; Mayr, 2008:18-20) In other words, transitivity is seen as a useful analytic means helping unravel the writer‟s underlying meanings and motivations behind particular linguistic realizations
The system of transitivity consists of different process types (actions taking place), participants (those involved in the action) and circumstances (details about time, place, cause, or the manner with which the process is performed) The type of participants a clause can have is determined by the process type; therefore transitivity is strongly focused on the verbal groups in the clauses (Thompson, 2004:89)
In Halliday‟s Introduction to Functional Grammar (2013), Halliday and Matthiessen introduced six process types, each of which consists of three elements, namely the process itself, the participants involved in the process, and the circumstances, if any
The process is typically realized by a verbal group; the participants are realized by nominal groups; and the circumstance by an adverbial group or prepositional phrase
Material process: concerns actions, events taking place in the domain of
„outer experience‟ In other words, as a process of doing things, it expresses notion that some entity „does‟ something This process is usually physical and tangible action Two essential participants usually appear in material process are the Actor (the doer of the process), and the Goal (the person or entity affected by the process)
Mental process: indicates the flow of events taking place in the “inner world” Technically speaking, it is a kind of activity in people‟s mind This process includes the sense of perception (see, hear, etc.), affection (like, hate, etc.), and cognition (think, know, understand, etc.) Mental process has two participants: the Senser (the conscious being) and the Phenomenon (thing/person that is felt, thought, or seen by the Senser)
Verbal process: is the process of saying Besides the verbal process itself, the elements that might appear in a verbal clause are the Sayer (entity that produces the utterance), the Receiver (the addressee), the Verbiage (the content of what is said), and the Target (the entity that is targeted by a process of verbal judgment)
Relational process: is the process of „being‟, „having‟ and „being at‟ There are three types of relational clauses, namely intensive, circumstantial, and possessive Each of these can be cross-classified as either attributive or identifying In attributive intensive mode, a quality (an Attribute) is ascribed to an entity (the Carrier) In identifying intensive mode, an identity (an Identifier) is ascribed to an entity (the Identified) The possessive mode establishes a relation between a Possessor and the Possessed (things belonging to
Behavioral process: is the process of physiological and psychological behavior The obligatory participant is Behaver (a conscious entity that behaves)
Existential process: is the process of existing, indicating that something or some natural force exists.
Overview of related studies
The confrontation between Vietnam and China in the waters has been one of the most controversial and much cover-newsworthy Nevertheless, so far CDA studies on the news delivering the East Sea dispute have received little critical exploration by critical discourse analysts, especially when the subjects of the study are Vietnamese and Chinese news in English Accordingly, the researcher decided to conduct this study to investigate the ideologies of journalists of both sides when reporting the event
However, in terms of studies utilizing CDA approach to investigate the ideologies of the media institutions when reporting an issue involving their own countries or their allies, they share the same features, that is their positive self-image while negative other-representation
He and Zhou (2015), probed into the lexical choice of six pieces of news reporting three safety accidents in China in China Daily and the Washing Post The study found that the two newspapers represented the same event differently, which reflected the differences in their ideological standpoints and national interests To be more specific, China Daily chose derogatory terms to portray the accident causers, the terrorists, but adopted commentary words to describe the government actions On the contrary, the Washington Post’s reporters utilized neutral terms to portray the accident causers, and derogatory words to describe the government actions
Taiwo and Ota (2015) analyzed news reports on the Bakassi Peninsula conflicts in Nigeria and Cameroon print media The findings showed that newspapers from each country seemed to present their positive images while claiming themselves as victims of the other side Specifically, Nigerian news vividly portrayed the violation of human rights and injustice of Cameroon security forces In contrast, Cameroon newspapers delineated their security forces as responsive and capable of handling the conflict
Zhang (2014) examined the political news reports on Iraq war in the New York
Times, utilizing Fairclough‟s three-dimension framework and Halliday‟s functional grammar, to expose different ideologies hidden Results revealed that the reporters built a positive image of the Bush administration as a friendly country and a liberator while the Iraqi community led by a tyrant leader – Saddam Hussein was portrayed negatively, labelled as an enemy
Yang (2012) conducted an analysis on the New York Times and China Daily‟s news coverage to reveal the portrayal of the Chinese government The study suggested that the two newspapers, though shared some similarities, each depicted the Chinese government differently While the New York Times tended to apply an “anti-
Chinese government frame”, a “pro-government frame” is preferable in the China Daily
Chen (2008), utilizing Fairclough‟s framework and Halliday‟s three metafunctions, analyzed the news reports on Sino-Japan conflicts in the New York Times He probed into some linguistics features like lexicalization, transitivity, thematization to find out the representations of China and Japan The findings indicated that the New York Times tended to portray China as aggressive, dominant, and violent
In contrast, Japanese government and its people were depicted more rational and courteous
Ahmadian and Farahani (2014) analyzed the editorials of the Los Angeles Times and Tehran Times to investigate ideological differences manifested in two media outlets when reporting on Iran‟s nuclear program They realized the media bias in the representations of Iran‟s nuclear program in which each side expressed its favorable attitude towards “us” while unfavorable to “them”.
METHODOLOGY AND ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES
The background to the event
The tension raised in the East Sea on May 1, 2014 when China deployed the mobile HD-981 drilling rig escorted by a fleet of vessels along with aircraft near Hoang Sa Archipelagos (known to China as Xisha Islands), and claimed the waters as its territory This led to Vietnam‟s drastic protest In response, Hanoi dispatched 29 ships to disrupt the rig‟s placement and operations However, they met fierce resistance from Chinese ships The situation escalated dramatically after three incidents The first occurred on May 7 when China fired water cannons, resulting in severe damage to Vietnam‟s side Then on May 13 and 14, anti-China protests in Vietnam turned into riots targeting Chinese-like corporations and Chinese workers
Finally, on May 26 a Vietnamese fishing boat sank after being rammed by Chinese vessels.
Data collection
The thesis takes twelve authentic news reports written in English from both China and Vietnam‟s news agencies, among which five are from China‟s top three authoritative media – the Global Times and Xinhua Agency News; another seven are collected from Vietnam‟s top authoritative and influential online media – the
Vietnamplus, Vietnamnet The news reports analyzed are selected from a large pool of articles covering the East Sea dispute during May 1, 2014 to July 16, 2014
Moreover, corresponding to each incident, a pair of news reports from each side is chosen to investigate the similarities or differences in the way journalists from two countries report the events, from which unveils ideologies of each party
The main reason why these specific newspapers are selected is that all of them are representatives of influential and leading newspapers in China and Vietnam
Besides theirs popularity, the online newspapers are chosen on the basis of their hierarchy in media management and control, which often draws researcher‟s speculations about different levels of news censorship and political manipulation imposed on each site (Nhung, 2012)
The Global Times is run by the state and regarded as one of the most reliable and authoritative newspapers in China It helps provide China insights and China views on domestic and international events (Olga and Ekaterina,
2015) As a major English-language newspaper in China, it is published and distributed in most cities in China and more than 150 countries and regions outside China Thus, it has wider impacts on readers
Xinhua is considered as “official mouthpiece” of the Chinese Communist
Party It plays a unique role in creating China‟s national image and in articulating the Chinese government‟s policies with its ideological orientations (Li, 2010)
Vietnamnet is one of the most popular online newspapers and reliable sources of information in Vietnam It is under the control of the Ministry of Information and Technology It has great effects on readers‟ feeling and thought, which is considered a potential factor infecting readers with political ideologies (Nhung, 2012)
Vietnamplus of the Vietnam News Agency is directly under the Communist
Party management Therefore, it is considered as the “mouthpiece” of the Party
The objectives of the thesis are to find out what beliefs about each side‟s actions are formulated and how they are presented to the foreign audience or what public diplomacy messages that the online media of both sides intend to convey to the world Since online news reports written in mother tongue are perceived as a means of government to “manufacture consent among domestic audience” (Nhung, 2012), English-language media are chosen to serve the role of informing foreign audience about the issues.
Research method
With the purpose of discerning the underlying ideologies of the reporters, Fairclough‟s three-dimensional approach to CDA and Halliday‟s Systemic- functional theory are applied to analyze the news In the study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are used Three stages proposed by Fairclough (2001), namely description, interpretation and explanation are intertwined in the thesis, instead of being given separately to show the direct link of each step To be specific, each formal property of the news at textual analysis is in direct relation with the ideologies of the reporters
As Fairclough emphasized that his proposed procedure of doing CDA should not be considered a blueprint, but just a guide with which depending on the research purposes, some aspects should be taken into consideration Accordingly, in details, based on Fairclough‟s model of ten questions to find out the formal properties of the texts, the researcher just focuses on some linguistic features to see how ideologies of the journalists are encoded through language choices With regard to grammatical analysis, transitivity is scrutinized In terms of lexical choice, only overwording is analyzed.
Data analysis procedure
To each criterion analyzed, all three steps of Fairclough‟s framework are followed
Initially, at the descriptive stage, transitivity and overwording are analyzed to see how ideologies of the journalists are embedded in the news In the next stage – interpretation, context is considered For interpreting situational context, questions given by Fairclough (2001) are utilized as useful suggestions: What is going on?, Who is involved?, What relationships are at issue?, What is the role of langue in what is going on? Finally, in the last stage – explanation, the relationship between interaction and social context is mentioned in order to see how the discourse production and interpretation are determined by social structures and what effects the discourse can have on those structures.
A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF ONLINE NEWS
Transitivity analysis
As can be seen in the chart in Figure 3, there is a similar transitivity pattern in news coverage of Vietnam and China delivering the dispute To be more specific, both sides tended to prefer using material, verbal, and relational processes, followed by mental and existential processes On press coverage of both sides, the dominant process is material (comprising 61.9% and 44.9% respectively) Verbal process, which accounts for 17.2% in Vietnamese news and 32.9% in Chinese news, is the second most frequent process type, followed by relational process (15.7% and 13.9%)
That these three processes were utilized more frequently than others seems to be reasonable Regarding relational processes, they were deployed mainly to demonstrate the relation of the country to its legitimate ownership of the waters, which led to the conflict of the two countries when each side claimed their legal
Pm Pv Pr Pmen Px
Figure 3: The distribution of processes in Vietnamese news and Chinese news
Vietnamese news Chinese news deemed to have the attributes of opposition and disruption to China and vice-versa
For the predominance of material and verbal processes, it comes as no surprise because the news of two countries were mainly concerned with reporting conflicting actions and events happening in the disputed zone, instead of focusing on how each side feels or views subjectively
One conspicuous feature is that behavioral process does not record any occurrence in the news analyzed It is quite natural to understand as in the news reporting the tense confrontation between two sides, physiological and psychological behavior are not the focus of what the journalists aim to convey to the readers
Another point worth noticing is a significant difference in using material and verbal processes on press coverage of two countries Percentages of material processes in Vietnamese and Chinese news are 61.9% and 44.9% respectively (the variance is nearly 1.5 times) Whereas, the number of verbal processes used in Chinese news is almost double than one in Vietnamese news It can be deduced that the tendency of Vietnamese online news coverage was using material processes to narrate the actions and events of the dispute while Chinese online media tended to prioritize reporting events The dominant use of material processes in Vietnamese news seems to show that the journalists are the eyewitnesses of the confrontation between two sides, who afterwards portray precisely bit by bit what was happening to the readers Meanwhile, reciting what the authorities said about the dispute on the sea instead of telling from their experience, Chinese journalists expected to be seen more objective
From the findings, it can be said that the newspapers in both countries were mainly concerned with reporting actions and events, in which the writers seemed to play the role of a third person without posing their own views subjectively However, when going into details relating to the distribution to each side of the three most frequently used processes in the following section, the researcher finds that the news reports are not as objective as they seem to be on the surface
As shown in the chart in Figure 4, the deployment of material processes journalists from two countries utilized is rather similar, in which the most dominant Actors are of the opponent party Specifically, in Vietnamese news, the most active agent who takes “aggressive actions” is China, accounting for 53.2% Meanwhile, in Chinese news, the side that should be blamed for causing the tension in the region because of its “provocative actions” is Vietnam, taking up 48.3% These obviously indicate that the news coverage of China and Vietnam were likely to focus on the activities of the opposing side in the disputed waters
Take the following sentences as examples when the writers presented their country‟s opponent:
(1) …the Vietnamese side deployed a large number of vessels to forcefully disrupt and obstruct China's operations, and rammed Chinese government vessels (news.xinhuanet.com/english)
(2) Vietnam slammed a Chinese oil company's launch of an oil rig
(3) …thousands of people smashed and looted foreign plants in industrial zones (globaltimes.cn)
(4) Vietnam's actions have violated international laws, infringed on China's sovereignty and jurisdiction, and endangered navigational freedom
Figure 4: The distribution of Actors in the material processes
(5) China has so far deployed many vessels, up to 80 at peak time…
(6) Chinese ships encircled and intentionally rammed at, fired high-pressure water cannons on Vietnamese coast guard and fisheries surveillance vessels… (english.vietnamnet.vn)
(7) Vietnamese fishermen were beaten with two badly injured and their tools were destroyed (english.vietnamnet.vn)
(8) China’s recent illegal acts in the East Sea have seriously infringed on Vietnam’s sovereignty, running counter to international law and practices and damaging the trust from the world community (en.vietnamplus.vn)
From the examples (1-4) or (5-8), the similarity in the way journalists employed material processes when depicting the opposite party can be seen clearly By using strong action verbs such as “deployed”, “rammed”, “slammed”, “smash”, “looted”,
“infringed”… Vietnam was described in Chinese online media as an aggressive country with vicious and irrational behavior regardless the law Similarly, as an initiator of the conflict with a series of anti-Vietnam acts like “encircled”,
“(intentionally) rammed”, “fired”, “beat”, “destroyed”, China was displayed on Vietnam‟s media coverage as a bully neighbor who is belligerent and could act brashly, illegally in the rule-based community
However, when portraying their own country, writers rendered the opposite images
In Chinese news, almost all of material processes describing China‟s actions are related to two aspects: peaceful measures to protect its sovereignty and citizens (57.1%) and its normal drilling operation in the Sea (28.6%) These two main themes reveal the ideologies of the journalists Firstly, China was expected to be seen as calm and sensible when prioritizing the stability of the region through diplomacy rather than violence
(9) Taking into consideration the overall bilateral relations and peace and stability in the South China Sea, China has exercised great restraint towards Vietnam's actions (news.xinhuanet.com/english)
(10) It would be the last way to organize nationals to withdraw from Vietnam…to protect our nationals (globaltimes.cn)
Moreover, over a quarter of material processes used to narrate China‟s oil drilling process indicates that the journalists were likely to believe China was operating legally in the sea, and the waters is of course part of China‟s territory
Sharing the same viewpoint in representing the self-image of the country, Vietnamese online news was apt to depict its motherland as a peace-lover but on the basis of sovereign rights being respected A significant proportion of all material processes in Vietnamese news reports (60.4%) employed involves these facets
Vietnam was delineated as flexible when precedence was given to peaceful solutions to the dispute although tough and assertive manner should be taken into consideration regarding the sovereignty
(11) The Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance Force has exercised their utmost restraint (english.vietnamnet.vn)
(12) Vietnam will take all necessary and proper measures to defend its legitimate rights and benefits and safeguard its sovereignty (en.vietnamplus.vn)
With respect to the role of participants as Goals taking place in the subject position (see Figure 5), there witnesses a different pattern
In Vietnam‟s news discourse, the side playing the main Goals is Vietnam, taking up 8.5% Especially, in all cases Vietnam was presented as the victim of an irrational and hegemonic China, like in the following instance:
(13) [Boat DNa 90152] was deliberately encircled by 40 fishing vessels of China before it was attacked by the Chinese ship 11209 (en.vietnamplus.vn)
Figure 5: The distribution of Goals in the material processes
Whereas in China‟s news, it was the third party, namely the Chinese-like foreign corporations (6.1%), followed by China‟s citizens (4.1%) They are the main targets affected by Vietnam‟s violent actions in the riot against China‟s operation Thus, it can be affirmed that Vietnam via the negative depiction in Chinese news has become an aggressive country acting recklessly, unwisely because of its blind patriotism
(14) …at least two Chinese nationals were killed and more than 100 injured
(15) 16 other people described as Chinese were killed on Wednesday night in rioting (globaltimes.cn)
Overwording
According to Fairclough (2001:96), Fowler (1991:85), overwording or over- lexicalization often involves a highly frequent use of words which are “near synonyms” or “quasi-synonyms” Jackson and Amvela (2004), however, claimed that there are more than just synonyms but also hyponyms and antonyms In spite of differences in categorizing, it is believed that the use of overwording may present certain meanings the writer of the text intends to convey, that is a focal ideology (Fowler, 1991; Fairclough, 2001; Jackson and Amvela, 2004)
Thus, it can be said that overwording is the frequent repetition of any words, phrases or the like in relation in meaning to indicate a single entity or concept with the purpose of revealing the hidden ideology
The repetitive words and inter-related terms with high degree of frequency in a series of news analyzed are divided into six main themes for each side (See Tables 1 and
Table 1:The main themes in Vietnamese online news coverage
Table 2:The main themes in Chinese online news coverage
Key concept Time of occurrence Key concept Time of occurrence
China‟s illegal operation and disruptive activities 170 China‟s sovereignty over the waters 69
Vietnam‟s sovereignty over the waters 95 Vietnam‟s disruptive activities 66
Vietnam‟s legal operation and defense 49 China‟s legal operation 33
Viewpoints on China‟s activities of Vietnam and 42 China‟s peaceful measures and strategies 32 international community
Vietnam‟s peaceful measures and strategies 23 China‟s viewpoints on
Vietnam‟s activities 27 International law/Acts 16 International law/Acts 13
As shown in Tables 1 and 2, it is no surprise when the news delivered by the media institutions of both nations revolved around these six main topics Here comes the same story that Vietnamese and Chinese journalists would like to narrate to their readers The motherland has the legitimate ownership of the waters where its citizens are conducting their work as usual Hence, the intrusion of another country into the exclusive economic zone together with its disruptive and threatening actions is always considered illegal and provoking These activities also show its disrespect to the international law signed by involving parties However, no matter how aggressive the opponent is, the land still prioritizes peace-related measures
The violence-related maneuver is just the last resort to defend itself from the enemy
Although sharing a similar plot, how the story is made depends on the skill of the storytellers, from which their ideologies are revealed Therefore, the researcher will analyze in details the six key concepts to demonstrate how journalists made use of reiteration to convey their ideologies to the readers
However, at first, it can be seen easily in Tables 1 and 2, news of two countries chose different approaches to the story In such story, China‟s media paid quite equal attention to its sovereign rights over the waters and Vietnam‟s provoking moves (69 and 66 times of occurrence respectively) If seen from China‟s perspective, it is sensible to mention these topics equally As analyzed above, China was criticized by the world for claiming irrationally its ownership of the area and illegally operating in the disputed waters; thus the job of Chinese reporters was to persuade the international community its eligibility Furthermore, a series of aggressive, hostile moves of Vietnam towards China was necessarily reported to uncover the true nature of an irrational Vietnam to the whole world
On the contrary, a substantial portion of Vietnam‟s news coverage was spent on China‟s illegal operation and disruptive activities (170 times), followed by the topic related to its sovereign rights (95 times) It clearly suggests that what Vietnam prioritizes is quite different from China It is because Vietnam has already been advocated by the world, so the attention should be steered to how to present the image of a belligerent, law-breaking China Nevertheless, Vietnam‟s legitimate proprietorship of the waters is undeniable That is why sovereignty-related items were repeated 95 times, ranking the second most highly used in the discourse
As can be seen in Tables 3 and 4, sovereignty-related matter is one of the two most important points journalists focus on It was mentioned 95 and 69 times in Vietnam‟s and China‟s news respectively
Table 3: The frequency of inter-related words to sovereignty in Vietnamese online news coverage
Vietnam’s sovereignty over the waters 95
(Vietnam‟s/ its/ Vietnamese) waters sovereignty, sovereign rights, jurisdiction continental shelf of Vietnam, Vietnam‟s continental shelf mainland coast of Vietnam, its coast exclusive economic zone the East Sea
Hoang Sa (archipelago/area), Tri Ton Island, Ly Son Island
Table 4: The frequency of inter-related words to sovereignty in Chinese online news coverage
China’s sovereignty over the waters 69
(Chinese/ its/ territorial) waters sovereignty, sovereign rights, jurisdiction Xisha Islands, China‟s islands the South China Sea (waters) China‟s inherent territory, Chinese territory China‟s maritime rights disputed waters,controversial islands
It is shown clearly via the phrases referring to the area such as “Vietnamese continental shelf”, “mainland coast of Vietnam”, “Vietnam‟s waters”, “Vietnam‟s exclusive economic zone” (in Vietnam‟s news), or “China‟s inherent territory”,
“Chinese territorial waters” (in China‟s news) To make that territorial claim more persuasive, the exact position of the zone was also described Take these following as examples:
(37) “The location was 80 nautical miles deep in Vietnam’s continental shelf and was 119 nautical miles to Vietnam’s Ly Son Island and 130 nautical miles to its coast.” (en.vietnamplus.vn)
(38) “…the waters where Chinese company operates is close to China's Xisha Islands, being only 17 nautical miles away from China's Zhongjian Island…” (news.xinhuanet.com/english)
Additionally, with any territorial violation, “sovereignty”, “sovereign rights” and
“jurisdiction” were always stated as an affirmation of their motherland‟s entitlement of the waters
(39) “China has irrefutable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters.” (globaltimes.com)
(40) “Vietnam has full legal and historical grounds to prove its sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos as well as its sovereign right and jurisdiction over its exclusive economic zones and continental shelf”
(en.vietnamplus.vn) Another interesting feature representing the ownership is the name designated to the zone In Chinese news coverage, “South China Sea” was used 14 times to indicate the waters, whereas Vietnamese journalists called it the “East Sea” 16 times
Likewise, the islands by which the oil rig was located were named Xisha in Chinese but “Hoang Sa” in Vietnamese (14 and 16 times respectively)
Apparently, the use of overwording indicates the reporters‟ political stance However, it is noteworthy that in Chinese news, there are three times “disputed” and
“controversial” was tagged as the attribute of the zone It shows the reporters‟ strong belief to China‟s legal ownership of the waters, to some degree, seemed to be shaken
Because of the strong belief of each side that the waters is of their country‟s maritime territory, the activities of residents in their area with no doubt are legal
Moreover, any intrusion or activity in the zone from the opposing party is considered to be illegal and to endanger the sovereignty and jurisdiction
Accordingly, it can be deduced that of both parties, the reporters‟ tendency is to present their own side in a favorable light, which is completely contrast with the disparaging effect on the opponent
Table 5: The frequency of inter-related words to China’s legal operation in
China's (legal/normal) drilling operations(s), (legal/ normal/ legitimate) oil drilling operate/ operating/ (normal) operation drilling field investigation/ drilling task, oil and gas exploration and development activities civil vessels, government vessels (on escort and security missions)
Specifically, to China, as its claim to the territory, China, needless to say, has authority to perform its “oil and gas exploration and development activities” For that reason, lexical items indicating China‟s “normal operation” like “China‟s legal drilling operation”, “legitimate oil drilling” were repeated totally 24 times (shown in its territory, the presence of civil vessels conducting their usual work, and government vessels “on escort and security missions” (9 times of occurrence in the news) is justifiable
With respect to Vietnam‟s activities, they are seen as an illegal obstruction to the normal operation of Chinese companies It is the reason why Vietnam was presented as hostile and unreasoning The repetition of “armed” or ”military” vessels (12 times), the use of strong action verbs and words with negative connotation indicating Vietnam‟s actions such as “rammed”, “slammed”, “smashed”, “rampaged”,
“damage”, “collision”, “disruptive” (28 times) portrayed a vivid picture of Vietnam‟s ferocious “disruption” (See Table 6) Moreover, by reiterating the inter-related terms involving riots like “atrocity", “rioting”, “rioters” 13 times, the brutality and blind patriotism of Vietnam citizens were also presented It can be seen clearly that the reporters evinced their negative attitude towards Vietnam
Table 6: The frequency of inter-related words to Vietnam’s disruptive activities in Chinese online news coverage
A summary of the findings
Through the analysis based on Fairclough‟s three-dimension framework and Halliday‟s Systemic functional grammar, the researcher has made an attempt to illustrate the relationship between language, ideology and political stance It can be seen clearly in the analysis the underlying ideologies revolving around “us” and
“them” side that the online media coverage of both sides intended to inculcate to readers That is presenting their positive self-representation while disparaging the other-representation The following will summarize the similarities and differences in how journalists of two countries exploited transitivity and overwording to convey their ideologies a Similarities:
Regarding transitivity, it seems that reporters preferred using material clauses the most, followed by verbal and relational In material clauses, both sides were likely to draw readers‟ attention to the “aggressive” and “irrational” activities of the opposing party who was seen the agent of the regional tension Notwithstanding, of their own side‟s activities, maneuvers displaying their legal operation and peace-loving nature became the focal points Besides, self-victimization strategy was apt to be used in order to accentuate the quality of their opponent‟s actions – illegal, reckless and vicious, from which the image of the enemy was damaged In verbal clauses, there was an unequal distribution of voice, in which a majority of voice raised showed favorable attitudes towards each own side The voice of the “other” tended to be excluded These illustrated the bias in favor of “our” side and prejudice against of the other side Relational clauses also witnessed similar features of media coverage of both nations The property of the waters and the legitimacy of each side‟s operation or interference were brought into focus in order to legalize what were considered
“wrongdoings” from the opposite side Moreover, the attribute of the opponent‟s disrespect to the international law of the other side, from which the image of a warmonger, law-breaker and regional troublemaker was depicted
Based on the frequency of repeated words, it can be seen that both sides shared the same six main themes involving their own country‟s legitimate rights and operation in the area, their preference of peaceful measures and strategies when facing the opponent‟s “provoking” and “conducive” activities, and their respect to the international law Relating to the sovereignty, both sides had a tendency to mark their ownership via the name designated to the disputed region While Vietnam used the
“East Sea” and “Hoang Sa Archipelagos” to refer to the zone, China insisted on the
“South China Sea” and “Xisha Islands” Another similarity is in the lexical choices used to depict each side Positive or neutral lexis was likely to be employed to portray
“our” side Meanwhile, negative lexicalization was for “their” side It was clearly shown through a list of strong verbs and words with negative connotations to indicate the law-breaking maneuvers of the opposite party which, from the opponent‟s perspective, were considered totally legal
These common features discussed above have apparently demonstrated the ideologies of the news reporters, that is presenting their own countries in favorable light to gain the support of the world in the dispute of the water ownership Meanwhile, the opponent was portrayed negatively as an aggressor who acted brashly, illegally in the rule-based community b Differences:
The differences between the online media coverage of both sides mainly lay in the proportion of their attention paid to each matter
With respect to transitivity, Vietnamese online news coverage had a tendency to exploit more material processes to describe China‟s “disruptive” acts and to victimize itself to China‟s aggression It reflects more clearly the journalists‟ ideologies in derogating the image of China By doing so, it was expected to raise the disapproving attitudes of the international world towards China‟s operation as well as claims In events, which shows theirs attempt in distancing themselves from the discourse
However, if investigated thoroughly, the ideologies of the reporters were exposed
The third parties‟ voice tended to be employed to delineate the image of a lonely China in the fight for its proprietorship of the territory because the world expressed their disapproval of China On the contrary, there witnessed an opposite effect of using the outsiders‟ voice in Vietnam‟s online news coverage with the supportive voice towards Vietnam They all considered the actions of China as belligerent and threatening Concerning the relational clauses, the focus of two sides was different
From Chinese perspective, the property of the waters and the legitimacy of its oil drilling operation were paid more attention Then came the issue related to Vietnam‟s illegal disruption However, Vietnamese reporters spent much of the time on displaying the illegal attributes of China‟s operations and actions These showed clearly the purposes of the journalists Firstly, it was reinforcing the process of materializing the disputed waters by convincing the international community its rightful to the zone Secondly, an aggressive, irrational and hostile Vietnam was successfully depicted
In terms of lexical choices, a significant difference in the proportion of each key concept suggested that each party had their own priorities in order to convey the ideologies to the readers In China‟s online media coverage, the attention was more likely to be paid equally on sovereign rights over the waters and Vietnam‟s provoking moves They served the purpose of persuading the international community of China‟s eligibility, from which materializing the area legally Besides, by exposing the true nature of an irrational, aggressive, and law-breaking Vietnam to the whole world, China expected to gain the international world‟s support Whereas in Vietnamese news, China‟s illegal operation and disruptive activities seem to be the most important information Then following is sovereignty Such priorities of Vietnam displayed the writers‟ purpose of presenting the image of a warlike, law- breaking China, from which more supportive votes from the community were expected to achieve Moreover, it is worth noting that Chinese journalists did not seem to be fully convinced with China‟s jurisdiction over the waters when mentioning “the disputed waters” three times in the news, which was not shown in Vietnam‟s news
From the findings with the significant differences in depicting two parties in the news, it can be confirmed that there is actually a relationship between news reports and their political ideologies Simply speaking, the journalists in particular or the media institutions in general are politically manipulated
In conclusion, through the analysis, it can be stated that language is an effective means to assert power and ideology; thus it can be used to control readers‟ actions and minds Such power of manipulation can have immense effect if it is used with newspapers Therefore, it is recommended that readers should be aware of how particular uses of language are exploited in news to uncover the ideological representations embedded.
Limitation and recommendation for further studies
The first limitation of the study is its small-scale database Because the study has just been conducted on twelve news reports, the findings of the study can, unavoidably, not be generalized as the characteristics of Vietnamese and Chinese news coverage on the dispute
Besides, due to the researcher‟s limited ability and time, the study has exploited some features of language at textual level Therefore, further studies can be conducted on the news discourse in some other aspects such as passivization, nominalization, modes of sentences, and thematization
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APPENDIX 1: THE 10-QUESTIONS MODEL OF THE DESCRIPTION
1 What experiential values do words have?
What classification schemes are drawn upon?
Are there words which are ideologically contested?
Is there rewording or overwording?
What ideologically significant meaning relations (synonymy, hyponymy, antonymy) are there between words?
2 What relational values do words have?
Are there markedly formal or informal words?
3 What expressive values do words have?
5 What experiential values do grammatical features have?
What types of process and participants predominate?
Are processes what they seem?
Are sentences active or passive?
Are sentences positive or negative?
6 What relational values do grammatical features have?
What modes (declarative, grammatical question, imperative) are used?
Are there important features of relational modality?
Are the pronouns we and you used and if so, how?
7 What expressive values do grammatical features have?
Are there important features of expressive modality?
8 How are (simple) sentences linked together?
What logical connectors are used?
Are complex sentences characterized by coordination or/ subordination?
What means are used for referring inside and outside the text?
9 What interactional conventions are used?
Are there ways in which one participant controls the turns of others?
10 What larger scale structures does the text have?
China urges Vietnam to respect its sovereign rights over Xisha Islands
Source: globaltimes.cn Published: May 9, 2014 – 21:40:14 China on Friday again urged Vietnam to respect China's sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea and stop provocative actions
Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the remarks at a regular press briefing
She reiterated that the Xisha Islands are the inherent territory of China and there are no disputes in this area
The waters of China's drilling operations are only 17 nautical miles from China's Xisha Islands, she said, adding that the operations are about 150 nautical mies from Vietnam
The operations of Chinese companies in waters off the Xisha Islands is completely within China's sovereignty, she said, noting that it is untenable for any country to make irresponsible remarks or impede China's normal oil drilling in its territorial waters
From May 3 to 7, Vietnam dispatched 36 vessels, which rammed Chinese vessels up to 171 times
The Chinese vessels at the scene are only government and civil vessels, but the Vietnamese side has deployed many armed vessels, according to Yi Xianliang, deputy director-general of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs of China's Foreign Ministry
In the course of the collisions, the Chinese side also discovered frogmen sent by the Vietnamese side 5 meters from Chinese government vessels, Yi said, adding that the Vietnamese side also placed many fishing nets and large obstacles in the waters, not only posing security threats to Chinese vessels and facilities, but also jeopardizing normal navigation security
Hua said Vietnam's actions have violated international laws, infringed on China's sovereignty and jurisdiction, and endangered navigational freedom
It is not conducive to regional peace and stability, she said, adding that the Chinese side had to take additional security measures in response to Vietnam's disruptions to ensure maritime operations and safety of navigation
US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Wednesday that the US opposes provocative or unilateral actions that jeopardize peace and security in the South China Sea
The US also criticized China on Tuesday by calling its exploration activities "provocative and unhelpful to the maintenance of peace and stability in the region."
Hua said the US has made irresponsible remarks over the maritime issues in recent days, which have encouraged some countries' provocative activities
She called on the United States to speak and act cautiously, stop making irresponsible remarks, and do more to safeguard regional peace and stability
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday that Japan regards China's drilling operations in South China Sea waters as "provocative" to regional security, and Beijing should clarify to Vietnam and the international community the basis of its increasing maritime activities
In response to Kishida's remarks, Hua said relevant Japanese officials should not make comments before figuring out basic facts
"Japan itself should respect the basic facts and international laws through concrete actions," she added
By Liu Yunlong Source: globaltimes.cn Published: May 16, 2014 – 0:58:03 China Thursday lodged a solemn protest against Vietnam over the wave of riots against Chinese firms in the country triggered by disputes in the South China Sea, in which at least two Chinese nationals were killed and more than 100 injured
The riots have spread to central Vietnam, after thousands of people smashed and looted foreign plants in industrial zones in the country's south Tuesday
One casualty was caused in an overnight riot at an iron and steel complex in Ha Tinh Province, invested in by Taipei-based Formosa Plastics Group
Formosa said hundreds of Vietnamese workers at its plant staged a strike first, but this quickly became violent They began "attacking some Chinese mainland workers and damaged offices and equipment," it said in a statement, AFP reported
China 19th Metallurgical Corporation (MCC19), a contractor for construction of the plant, was one of the worst hit companies
"As we counted, the hospital has received 75 Chinese nationals, while the hospital says 101 are admitted," a high-ranking official with MCC19 was quoted by the Xinhua News Agency as saying
The official said the Chinese victims died before reaching hospital, and around 10 others still remain unaccounted for
Dang Quoc Khanh, a local official in the province, told state-run VTV that at least 149 people were injured, and police had arrested 76 people and opened an investigation
Another worker from the Chinese mainland was found dead in a Taiwan-funded factory in southern Vietnam's Binh Duong Province, David Chen, former chairman of the Council of Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce in Vietnam's Binh Duong branch, told the Global Times
A staff member of a Chinese business association in Hanoi told the Global Times that there have been around 90 Chinese people injured in riots as far as they know
Reuters put the death toll higher It quoted a doctor at a hospital in Ha Tinh as saying that five Vietnamese workers and 16 other people described as Chinese were killed on Wednesday night in rioting
However, Vietnam's foreign ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh only confirmed one death in
Ha Tinh, and described media reports and accounts on social networking sites of higher casualties as "groundless," reported Reuters
China's foreign minister Wang Yi Thursday night held a phone conversation with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh, denouncing the riots and lodging a solemn protest
Wang said "Vietnam bears inescapable responsibility" for the rioters' attacks on Chinese firms and nationals, and demanded Hanoi to immediately stop the violence and protect the safety of Chinese nationals and firms He also demanded an investigation into the violence and compensation for the losses of Chinese firms and citizens
Minh said more than 1,000 suspects have been arrested, and Hanoi will severely punish those responsible
The Chinese government has dispatched a work group to Vietnam
The riots in Vietnam come in the wake of rising tensions between the two countries over territorial disputes in the South China Sea after Vietnam slammed a Chinese oil company's launch of an oil rig in the waters of the Xisha Islands
"The rioters targeted Chinese people and rampaged any factories with Chinese characters on their signs," said the Chinese business association staff, adding that some Chinese companies are planning to withdraw from Vietnam
The riots caused panic and horror and hundreds of Chinese nationals fled to neighboring countries or back to China
Kirt Chantharith, Cambodian National Police spokesman, told Reuters that more than 600 Chinese people from Vietnam crossed at Bavet international checkpoint into Cambodia on Wednesday