Media's Perception of China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC): A Framing Analysis of Media Discourse on Chinese Investments in Myanmar

Abstract

Since media liberalization in 2011, news media has played a critical role in shaping public opinion, impacting the government’s policy-making process. After the emergence of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) in 2018, Chinese projects have increasingly attracted media attention in Myanmar. Previous studies mainly focus on Chinese projects with different perspectives, such as geopolitics and international perspectives, while lacking an understanding of media. Therefore, this article set out to study media perceptions of Chinese projects under the CMEC to examine how the news media frames Chinese projects in Myanmar. Qualitative content analysis with Entman’s four frames was applied to find media frames with Chinese investments in Myanmar. Three news media outlets, Eleven News, The Irrawaddy, and Radio Free Asia (RFA), were selected to find critical news stories related to Chinese projects under the CMEC. 15 news stories (N=15) between 2018 to the present were selected, and the study was systematically conducted, following Braun and Clarkes’ six-phase-analytical process. The study proved that four themes addressed the research question, "How do news media frame news about Chinese projects in Myanmar?” It was concluded that news media primarily framed two factors, public concerns and domestic issues, that impeded the successful implementation of Chinese investments in Myanmar. Finally, the study found that news media called for effective collaboration between China and Myanmar to ensure mutual benefits. It also further recommended that future research should consider longitudinal studies to examine media framing impacts public opinion and policy changes, and to incorporate a wider range of media sources to improve the generalizability of findings to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of media perceptions over time.