Conflict and supremacy in chinese sports news commentaries: a case study

e. lupano

2020-01-01

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Abstract

The acquisition of Italy’s FC Internazionale by the Chinese company Suning, in June 2016, resonated widely in the Chinese press. The acquisition of European football clubs is part of Xi’s “football dream” to transform China into a football powerhouse, a plan that has gained a special role in Xi’s political agenda and that has been portrayed as part of the “Chinese dream”, a political keyword introduced by Xi Jinping during his first mandate which hints at a conflictual understanding of the relation between China and Europe, and at China’s aspiration to re-establish its dominant position in the world. Through the analysis of a corpus of news commentaries related to the news, this chapter presents a case study showing how a sport-related story has been used as an opportunity to promote a discourse of conflict and national supremacy over Europe.