Same event, different stories: a corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis of the 20th CPC National Congress in Chinese and US mainstream media

As China’s first major national congress in the post-pandemic era, the 20th CPC National Congress has considerable domestic and international influence. This study employs a corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis to investigate the divergent discursive constructions of the Congress across six mainstream Chinese and American media outlets. The findings reveal a clear dichotomy of representations. Chinese media predominantly reproduce official discourses and construct a positive narrative of the Congress by framing it as a pivotal event guiding China’s future trajectory. In contrast, American media tend to adopt a more critical perspective, presenting it as an occasion of political power transition and consolidation by amplifying expert and dissident interpretations. These disparities reflect the clash of underlying political ideologies and the intensifying narrative competition between the two countries. This study offers valuable insights into how mainstream media outlets function as ideological apparatuses that (re)construct political narratives and (re)shape global public perceptions.