China as a Responsible Power Amid the COVID-19 Crisis: Perceptions of Partners and Adversaries on Twitter

Abstract

The challenging COVID-19 context has questioned China’s role as a responsible power but also tested its relationship with other states. This study seeks to investigate ‘How other actors have perceived China’s role as a responsible power amid the COVID-19 crisis’. To do so, we opt for a qualitative approach examining the official Twitter accounts of seven actors that hold different types of relationships with China, namely Brazil, EU, Japan, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and the USA. We aim to identify the perceptions of these actors towards China as unfolding from January to June 2020, emphasising the empirical applicability of Twitter’s discourse. By adopting the concept of responsible power approached from a Role Theory perspective, this paper contributes to a more nuanced understanding of interstate relations and role perceptions. Our findings indicate that there have been variations in the responses and perceptions other states have expressed towards China while its framing as a responsible power differs significantly during the crisis and its landmark events.

Global law, policy, and governance for effective prevention and control of COVID-19: A comparative analysis of the law and policy of Pakistan, China, and Russia

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“…Local epidemics are more likely to develop in large-scale public facilities, such as transportation and entertainment venues, which are crucial for everyday living. The many States decided to prohibit mass gatherings, close big shops and schools, and decrease the number of flights and cruises to prevent the spread of the virus in the early phases of the outbreak ( 17 ). These tight preventative and control methods have become a problem for public health as schools, companies, and other similar establishments steadily open up.…”

“…The best practices adopted through emergency law and policy in response to COVID-19 were Pakistan, China, and Russia ( 14 – 16 ). These countries' practices through law and policy were acclaimed by WHO, regional health agencies and influential countries ( 17 ). The basic aim of this research focuses on the main question related to the kind of emergency law and policy response to COVID-19 adopted by these three countries.…”

Can Debunked Conspiracy Theories Change Radicalized Views? Evidence from Racial Prejudice and Anti-China Sentiment Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…A critical assessment of these possible consequences will help build a dialogue with studies on the U.S.-China competition beyond COVID-19, and provide a more sophisticated and nuanced account on the logic of the US’s China strategy [ 94 , 120 ]. While this paper focuses on the American opinions on China, a comparison with other regions [see, for example, 89 , 109 ] or between different social groups [ 44 ] will be particularly fruitful given the variations the citizens of different countries have in perceiving the role of China in the pandemic [ 82 ]. Our findings also suggest a potentially useful approach to developing counter-conspiracy tools for non-state-centric security governance in COVID-19 and beyond [ 15 ].…”

The CCP, Campaign Governance and COVID-19: Evidence from Shanghai

“…38 On this view, the state is organized through its legal-rational authority, based on 'rational grounds -resting on a belief in the legality of enacted rules'. 39 Central to this mode of authority are equally applied rules and rule-following behaviours. By contrast, the Party is organized through a charismatic form of authority 'resting on devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person'.…”