Discurso como representación de sentido en las relaciones internacionales: el caso sino-chileno

Abstract

<p>El discurso social se constituye como creador de sentido y representación del mundo articulando, por tanto, realidades. Desde esta perspectiva, el discurso se transforma en un hecho social y por tanto “histórico”. Empero, para que este discurso tenga legitimidad, debe realizarse en contextos institucionales. A modo de ejemplificación respecto de la importancia del discurso en tanto formador y legitimador de las interacciones bilaterales entre República Popular China y Chile,<br />aquí se abordan los discursos institucionales – económicos, políticos y culturales – articulados en el contexto de la relación bilateral Sino-Chilena, dentro del contexto mayor de la relación entre el país asiático y América Latina</p>

Nuances of Public Diplomacy: China in Chilean Op-Eds (2018-2021)

“…As has been argued previously (Labarca, 2015;Labarca & Montt Strabucchi, 2019), the abovementioned FTA triggered a well-established narrative of portraying China as an opportunity for Chilean development, unlike other countries in Latin America (Dussel Peters, 2005;Ellis, 2009;Ray et al, 2016;Wise, 2020). This narrative is based on the understanding of China as a market for Chilean mining and agricultural products, a pivotal subject in an economic model based on free trade, globalization, and an export-oriented economic model (Ffrench-Davis, 2002;Montt Strabucchi & Rehner, 2020;Rehner et al, 2015).…”

“…As our data shows, despite an overall alignment with the bilateral narratives centered around an economic-commercial dimension, there are still nuances in how China is represented in Chilean op-eds. Results indicate that Chilean op-eds tend to mirror Sino Bilateral relations, which have traditionally been described as pragmatic (Coloma, 2020;Labarca, 2013) and centered around aspects that benefit both China and Chile with limited, although not totally absent, comments on issues that may be considered controversial by Chinese authorities (Labarca, 2015;Labarca & Montt, 2019). When examining specific themes, the most frequent are the US-PRC commercial war, trade /exchange, and investments, which may indicate that even when an op-ed is classified as political, political aspects are still subdued by economic aspects.…”

“…On the other hand, official narratives on China that prevail in Chilean state and governmental discourses have centered around economic advantages and a long-term diplomatic policy, which materializes in the "four firsts" or the "firsts narrative" (Labarca & Montt Strabucchi, 2019). This narrative holds that Chile was the first South American country to establish diplomatic relations with the PRC (1970), the first to support China's place in the United Nations (1971), the first South American country to sign a bilateral trade agreement to sign a bilateral agreement for the PRC's entry to the World Trade Organization (1999) and the first non-Asian Country to sign a trade bilateral agreement (2006).…”

“…This narrative is based on the understanding of China as a market for Chilean mining and agricultural products, a pivotal subject in an economic model based on free trade, globalization, and an export-oriented economic model (Ffrench-Davis, 2002;Montt Strabucchi & Rehner, 2020;Rehner et al, 2015). This narrative has been functional to the Sino-Chilean diplomatic rhetoric in which economic cooperation and friendship act as the engine of bilateral relations within a comfortable interplay with governmental authorities and Chinese media rhetoric (Bernal-Meza, 2016;Labarca & Montt Strabucchi, 2019;República Popular China, 2008, 2016. Furthermore, many have argued that Chile is an interesting case study for understanding the Chinese geopolitical and economic strategy towards Latin America (Gachúz, 2012) since Chile may work as a demonstration of Beijing's benign influence in the region (Labarca, 2013).…”