China’s minority policies towards Muslims in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have become an issue of contention in global politics that could further damage China’s global reputation. Many states and prominent institutions accuse China of committing serious human rights violations in Xinjiang. Yet, despite the significant global attention to China’s minority policies, little academic attention has been given addressing how the Chinese government aims to communicate its position to foreign audiences. This thesis adopts Critical Discourse Analysis to examine 54 English-language videos about Xinjiang and Islam produced by and broadcast on the China Global Television Network’s (CGTN) YouTube Channel. Utilising van Leeuwen’s analysis scheme of discursive (de)legitimation strategies, the research identifies CGTN’s claims about Xinjiang and Islam and analyses its discursive strategies for legitimating them. The analysis shows that CGTN frequently uses China’s nation-building norms of harmony and economic development as primary legitimating norms. I argue that CGTN pursues international legitimacy by operationalising domestic nation-building norms originating from the belief in the truth of a transcendental ‘Chineseness’. The discursive configuration of CGTN’s norms constructs a social control mechanism and presents a polarised, moral dichotomy against those CGTN labels as ‘anti-China’. By examining China’s discursive legitimating strategies around Xinjiang, the thesis contributes to the research literature on China’s public diplomacy and provides a novel framework for understanding the role of (de)legitimation strategies in public diplomacy practice.
Discourse analysis of China global television network’s legitimation strategies of its claims on Xinjiang and Islam
Akbas, I. (Author). 15 Nov 2026
Student thesis: PhD Thesis