The Communist Party of China and Strategic Narratives During the Covid-19 Pandemic : Identity and Narrative Construction in the Party Journal Qiushi

Abstract: This thesis analyzes how the Communist Party of China (CPC) has used the Covid-19 pandemic to enhance its identity as a global actor. This builds upon theories of soft power and demonstrates the advantages of using strategic narratives to analyze soft power in the current global system. I analyzed articles on the subject published in the English online version of the CPC’s offical party journal Qiushi by using strategic narratives to determine how the CPC views the world order and how it can be changed. I found that the CPC has constructed a narrative of the current world order being advantageous only for a select few and has presented Chinese multilateralism as a solution. Furthermore, the CPC has presented China as a better provider of aid than other countries, especially the U.S. This is primarily aimed at developing countries. These findings help us understand how the CPC sees itself as a global actor and how this influences their approach to not only the pandemic but also foreign politics, which is analyzed through strategic narratives in this thesis.