Content-Type: text/html Critical and Cultural Studies Division Political Drama and News Narratives: Presidential Summits on Chinese and U.S. National Television Tsan-Kuo Chang School of Journalism and Mass Communication 329 Murphy Hall University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN 55455 E-mail: [log in to unmask] Phone: (612) 626-7754 Paper submitted to the Critical and Cultural Studies Division at the annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Miami Beach, Florida, August 7-10, 2002. Tsan-Kuo Chang is an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Political Drama and News Narratives: Presidential Summits on Chinese and U.S. National Television Presidential summit is more than a face-to-face meeting between leaders holding the highest office in their respective countries. Although it has all the ingredients to be a media event, it is not exactly so because the festive nature is usually auxiliary, if not cosmetic, in such context. The summit is not only a site of direct exchanges in an official setting, but also a form of symbolic communication that conveys a sense of greatest authority, power and legitimacy of leaders in the diplomatic arena. It is a high-level political drama with profound national and international implications for the individual participants and the countries involved. The whole event is a serious negotiation and accommodation on complex and sensitive issues that are arranged by powerful policy makers across national borders. Presidential summit therefore carries an imprint of personal involvement, public expectations and potential cross-national consequences. It is not simply a spectacle, but an acute event that demands media narration. A media event, as Dayan & Katz (1992) put it, can be characterized as the transmission of historical occasions of state in an interruptive, monopolistic, live, and remote mode. Presidential summit certainly is a state occasion that is interruptive and monopolistic, but not always live and remote. Its social functions are different in that it has substantial impact on national policy and the public perception of the president (e.g., MacKuen, 1983; Plischke, 1968). As part of political drama, presidential summit "is expected to cast the president in a positive light, trigger a rally effect, and thus increase his standing with the public" (Simon & Ostrom, 1989, p. 77; see, also, Ostrom & Simon, 1989). Although presidential "use of television and foreign travel may be useful," they alone or in tandem are not "guaranteed to halt declines or replenish sizable losses of public support" (Simon & Ostrom, 1989, p. 78). The significance of presidential summit thus does not necessarily lie in what effects it may have on public opinion, but in how it may unfold and what it may mean symbolically (e.g., So, 1987) in the "communities of interpretation." It is the definition of situations by the news media that helps set the parameters for public perception. For one thing, as Hallin and Mancini (1992) argued, news coverage of presidential summit created an awareness of international integration or global community through the media's role as "interrogators and interpreters" of the participants. Communities of Interpretation and News Narratives As communities of interpretation (Said, 1997) or a significant part of interpretive communities (Fish, 1980; Said, 1978), the news media constitute a major public venue through which a given society's particular vision of reality is narrated and conveyed to its members as a form of social knowledge (e.g., Park, 1955). Narrative as an approach of intellectual inquiry (e.g., van Dijk, 1988) has informed the analysis of news and its relationship with social and political realities at both the national and international levels (e.g., Durham, 1998; Entman, 1991; Fisher, 1985; Hart, Smith-Howell & Llewellyn, 1991; Jensen, 1987; Kieran, 1997; Lucaites & Condit, 1985; Pan et al., 1999; Roeh & Cohen, 1992). The news as narrative is a story-telling mechanism with specific properties "that encourage those perceiving and thinking about events to develop particular understandings of them" (Entman, 1991, p. 7). News narrative is orienting, communal and ritualistic (Bird & Dardenne, 1988, p. 70). As a way of seeing, knowing and making sense of the world, it is generally made up of the plot, characters, genre, rhetorical device, function, journalistic practice, and ideological vision. A plot "is concerned with the selection, evaluation, and attribution of differential status to events" (Jacobs, 2000, p. 10). Its structural coherence provides a common thread to foster a depth of "knowledge" or conceptual framework that is expected to transmit what is to be known or understood. The characters are social actors identified or portrayed in the news, through which views, ideas and perspectives may be articulated either directly or indirectly. The selection of characters in the cast is both automatic and deliberate. It is automatic because leading characters make things happen and are hence essential in the plot. It is deliberate because other characters may hold strategic positions, depen ding on what utilitarian role they play. Between the characters and events of a narrative, a genre is needed to provide "a temporal and spatial link" in order to create some kind of experience (Jacobs, 2000, p. 10). A genre is a conspicuous category of presentation and identification that sets it apart from all other genres. In the case of presidential summit, the two underpinning concepts-"the presidential" and "the summit"-signify the unparalleled and compelling nature of the event itself that demands attention and narration. Events like presidential summit may evoke speculation, but do not speak for themselves. A rhetorical device allows the object of narration to be conceived and presented in a particular way (e.g., Durham, 1998; Entman, 1991), and "gives us something to think about as well as something not to think about" (Hart, 1987). Narratives therefore are functional and come in many forms (e.g., Lucaites & Condit, 1985). The function can be either dialectical in truth seeking or normative in consensus building. In journalistic practices, it can be identified as inquisitive or persuasive, depending on whether journalists assume the role of an adversary or an advocate. Accordingly, there is an ideological dimension in news narratives (e.g., Durham, 1998; Jensen, 1987; cf., Kieran, 1997, for a dissenting view), varying between "open" and "closed" presentations. The former is more rhetorically balanced, current and neutral, whereas the latter is the opposite (e.g., Roeh & Cohen, 1992). An open presentation leaves room for potential competing interpretations; its antithesis attempts a closure that may favor a specific take on reality. Given its dynamics and properties, presidential summit provides an ideal opportunity for a closer look at news as narratives. Presidential Summits and Television Coverage President Jiang Zemin visited the United States from October 26 to 31, 1997, becoming the first Chinese leader to do so after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. His "journey to the West" was designed to boost his status, power and legitimacy as a world leader on the one hand (e.g., Wasserstrom, 2000) and to move China out of the post-Tiananmen backlash on the other hand. The visit itself and his Washington summit with President Bill Clinton were well received officially and widely publicized in the United States. Eight months later, Clinton returned the favor by visiting China between June 25 and July 4, 1998, representing the first U.S. president to hold a summit in Beijing in more than a decade. Along with other news media, television in the two countries was there to capture the summits as they unfolded. Against the backdrop of news as narratives, the purpose of this study is to determine the form and content of the two presidential summits as they played out on the ABC World News Report and China Central Television Xinwen Lianbo (Network News). The main thrust is to unravel, through narrative analysis, how the news media in both countries might provide a certain picture of reality and what powerful social interests they might serve (e.g., Lee, 1990, 2000). Actual video casts of primetime news programs of the two networks were taped and extensively scrutinized. To paraphrase Geertz (1973, p. 5, emphasis added), to understand what something is, we should "look at what the practitioners of it do." What can be known about the news narratives on television is what its practitioners have made to be seen and thus knowable. Mr. Jiang Goes to Washington: The Summit on ABC From the first day President Jiang arrived in the United States, ABC World News Report framed his trip as a "Tough Sell" in the context of Sino-American relations that "were strained over Taiwan, Chinese human rights and trade imbalance." The 134-second piece story was essentially written from the American vantage point of view, looking at China as an unfair trade partner that was unresponsive to the U.S. concerns. While the video showed no sign of confrontation, the audio suggested otherwise, explicitly setting up the plot of what was to come throughout Jiang's visit. The rhetoric underscored that China was "under fire from Washington" and Jiang would face "a host of contentious issues from drug trafficking to human rights. " It conveyed a sense of hard times ahead for Jiang. In addition to the "tough sell" frame, ABC announced on the second day to open the "China File" everyday during Jiang's stay. With the two words etched in a template-like box on the screen, the "China File" clearly suggested a specific target for investigation. Citing The Economist-a respected British weekly and a media character that undoubtedly would lend significant weight to ABC's inquiry, Peter Jennings posed a big question that set the parameters for ABC coverage of Sino-American relations: "Can the world's most powerful economy, the U.S., and its fastest growing rival, namely China, get along better?" The inquisitive tone was to dissect the mood and style of the Chinese leader as well as the case he wanted "to make to the American people and the political establishment." The rhetoric and the visual were consistent with the assumption of a "tough sell" campaign projected onto Jiang's mission. Without quoting any specific sources, ABC reported that Jiang wanted "respect" and "an acknowledgment" that China was "a growing power on the world scene" and deserved "to be taken seriously." With a sense of authority, the story said that the Chinese president did not "want to be lectured about human rights" and that "China should be given its own pace, its own time to develop politically." Whether such statements were Jiang's views or they were simply the reporter's own, they left little doubt that Jiang was seeking approval or recognition for China from the United States. The rhetoric had a clear political undertone, implying the difficulties and hostilities Jiang might face and the leverage the United State had in dealing with China. It laid the ground work for the supporting characters to appear in subsequent stories. When Jiang arrived in Washington, D.C., ABC did two stories in the middle of the lineup. The trade issue that was supposed "to be high on the US agenda" was almost abandoned. In more than 4 minutes, both the visual and the rhetoric turned up the heat, touching on a variety of sensitive issues that have troubled China around the world and in the United States. Any photo opportunities that Jiang had to spruce his image as "sympathetic" and accessible to the American people were immediately countered with critical comments, condemnations or pictures of protests and demonstrations. The juxtaposition of scenes in various settings and characters with diverse interests and backgrounds presented conflicting or competing images and words that explicitly deviated from the implicit confrontation embedded in the earlier stories. In the "China File," the stories were both hype and potentially explosive. Jennings used the word "enormous" to describe the "US dependence on made-in-China products" in an apparent effort to underscore the magnitude of U.S.-China relations. But the gist of stories had nothing to do with trade, concentrating instead on China's internal behaviors and practices, especially its human rights policy and religious freedom, and how they were perceived by the Americans. As Jennings saw it, China had "a lot of enemies here." Nevertheless, before the "enemies" showed up on ABC, Jiang and his entourage were treated to a symbolic photo occasion, donning colonial-era hats "to show American people" that he was "a sympathetic figure." The scene was reminiscent to Deng Xiaoping's wearing a cowboy hat in 1979 when he visited the United States after the two countries formally established diplomatic relations. Such symbolism and its political usefulness in the Sino-American high politics obvio usly were not lost on Jiang, a prot‚g‚ of Deng. The cheerful impression was short-lived, however. ABC quickly pointed out that Jiang's critics were not amused by his public relations gimmick. From officials to civilians alike, there was no shortage of detractors. In the ABC narration, Washington was "filled with constituencies lining up to take their shots" at Jiang and China. In one story, Representative Tom Lantos of the House International Operations Subcommittee condemned that "cynical photo opportunities" would "not suffice to cover up the shameful human rights record of the Chinese government." A group of protesters shouting "China out of Tibet Now" soon appeared in full view. With the protesters in the background, under the headline "Protest," the screen itemized four issues of contention: treatment of Tibet, religious freedom, trade policy, and political prisoners. Although short, the entire piece took China to task, forming a coherent body of knowledge and a corresponding mode of interpretation of Tibet. In the Tibetan story, the visual and the verbal clearly identified the villains and the victims. Jennings asserted that Jiang was "going to hear something about Tibet" everywhere he went in the United States. With China, Japan, Mongolia, Russia, and Tibet visibly marked in different colors and similar font type and size, a map indicated not only the geographical location of Tibet, but also its independence to China. An apparently pre-planned story about Tibet emerged from the "China File," providing a reality check on China's internal practices as opposed to its external PR campaigns manifest in Jiang's "charm offense." This longest piece (2 minutes and 55 seconds) during Jiang's visit, like many others to follow, attempted to be balanced in its presentation by adopting a point vs. counterpoint format. The narrative affirmed Chinese authority's permission for "open worship in Tibet," but pointed out the presence of security agents and prohibition of "any show of support for T ibet holiest leader, the Dalai Lama," including the display of his photograph. The most revealing narration came at the end: "In this ancient land, the Chinese almost certainly have underestimated one thing about these devoted people: the power of faith." What was unspoken, but indisputably evident, is that China is doomed to fail in its attempt to coerce the Tibetan people. ABC News spent more than seven minutes in the top three stories on the day when the two leaders finally met at the White House. The significance, complexity and uncertainty of the summit could be easily recognized in questions Jennings put forward "for the whole country": "Is the People's Republic of China America's next great enemy, a nation never to be trusted whose leader should never be welcomed to the White House as he was today? Or is China a nation that US can do business with, even encourage to show greater respect for human rights?" The story following his inquisition was provocative and antagonistic, with the American press and President Clinton jumping into the fray amid a series of demonstration and denunciation concerning the triangular relationship among China, Taiwan and the United States. The second longest story (2 minutes and 45 seconds) gave China's nemesis Taiwan significant exposure through banners and slogans: "One Taiwan, One China," "China Hands Off Taiwan," "Taiwan is Sovereign," "Do Not Sell Out Taiwan," and "Taiwan independence." China's abuse of human rights was also hinted in mock shackles that printed the name of Wang Dan, a student leader imprisoned after the 1989 Tiananmen Square movement, and in various "Amnesty International" posters. The ABC narrator said that demonstrators ran a "full menu of protests," ranging from "China's behavior on Taiwan," "its record on human rights," to "its suppression of independence of Tibet." The characters varied from the far right-Gary Bauer of the Family Research Council-to Hollywood activism-actor Richard Gere. The context was captured in a banner: "Let Freedom Ring. Stop Human Rights Abuses in China and Tibet." The rest of the story remained confrontational, if not aggressive, with the American press and Clinton taking turn to fire "their shots" at Jiang. At a news conference, Jiang was asked whether he regretted "that China used force to crush the Tiananmen Square democracy movement eight years ago." He answered no, insisting that "the Chinese government had to take necessary measures according to law." Clinton took issue with that, saying that "we have a very different view of the meaning of the events of Tiananmen Square." Jiang fought back, arguing that "the concept of freedom is relative." Clinton then "took one more shot at the Chinese government," asserting that "we believe the policy of the government is on the wrong side of history." Although brief, this verbal exchange between the two leaders was epitome of the juxtaposition of conflicting views and images during Jiang's stay. The narration said that Clinton tried to turn the news conference into "a democracy lesson for Jiang." By implication, it was China that had much to learn and buy from the United States. Captioned "The Nation," a story proclaimed that American made nuclear power plants were what China wanted to buy and US manufacturers "desperately" wanted to sell. There was an air of skepticism and distrust, however: President Clinton must certify to the Congress that China was "no longer secretly providing bomb making technology" to countries like Iran and Pakistan. Over file footages of Chinese missiles on parade at the Tiananmen Square, the narration cited a CIA report calling China "the world's most significant supplier of _ weapons of mass destruction." Sen. Richard Shelby, chairman of Select Intelligence Committee, argued that if history was any guide, China would not keep its words. As if to support Shelby's remark, the visual cut to a Chinese military exercise, with a missile blasting off into the sky. Notwithstanding, the whole piece was carefully balanced with pros and cons. In the "China File," the economic ties between the two countries were addressed, based on interviews in Kansas with farmers, a business owner, an official from an engineering firm, and a Chinese immigrant working for the state on the China trade. All those interviewed had positive responses to the business opportunities in China. The only trace of negative image of China was the "Red Chinese" reference and the predication that the Sino-American commerce was "tainted to some extent by China's dismal record of human rights." Nonetheless, the reporter immediately indicated that "no one we talked to _ saw that as a disqualifying factor." In no subtle mode, this 144-second piece suggested a practical approach and an apparent gap between the official knowledge and public understanding of China. Two more stories rounded up Jiang's remaining itinerary in the United States, one in each day. The narratives contained skeptical statements regarding the success of his efforts to court American public opinion and an outright prescription of lessons to be learned by Jiang as well as unflattering comparisons of his behaviors, styles and governance. Jennings summarized Jiang's views on a variety of issues and countered them with clashing comments from American officials and ABC reporters' own observations in an attempt to contrast whom Jiang was and how he behaved in China with what he said and the way he performed in the United States. After the summit meeting, Jennings noted in a 1-minute and 41-second story that the Chinese president probably had "not won many new friends here." In fact, according to ABC, he had more critics. The film footages and rhetoric often counteracted what Jiang hoped to achieve through various symbolic settings, such as visits to monuments to American history (e.g., Pearl Harbor memorial and the Liberty Bell). For example, Sen. Tim Hutchinson of Arkansas advised Jiang that he needed to take the concept of liberty "back to China." Furthermore, over file footage of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown with a gun shot clearly heard in the background, the narrative argued that "it didn't help Mr. Jiang's image here when he said China was right to shoot demonstrators on Tiananmen Square." Such predication leaves little doubt that Jiang failed to live up to expectations in the United States. The ABC reporter concluded that many of Jiang's images were "not even been seen on Chinese TV." They were meant "for the American audience to win public opinion here. But it's not entirely clear it's working." Although Jiang did not speak directly, ABC's effort to give the Chinese side its "fair" share was discernible, albeit constricted and judgmental. The last story of Jiang's U.S. trip came full circle to the "Tough Sell" skepticism on ABC. Arguing that Jiang had "gotten what he wanted, full state honors and new openings to the business community, without having to make any concessions," Forrest Sawyer noticed "some subtle changes." In the ABC account, these changes alternated between images of American and Chinese settings, including a "Save Tibet" protest and Jiang's appearance in the People's Great Hall assembly. The narration was assertive: Jiang might "not have scored many points this week with the American public, with his refusal to budge on human rights or his awkward visits to monuments of American democracy. But what he did do was in many ways unprecedented." The unprecedented emerged through a series of comparison between here and there. Over file footages, the two faces of Jiang were sketched this way: "At home, Jiang tolerates no dissent, yet here he spent an hour and half with his fierce critics in Congress. At home, Jiang almost never meets with the foreign press and insists that questions be submitted in advance. In Washington, he didn't shy away from a press conference, White House style. And while at home, Jiang's public appearances are formal and wooden, here at least he has made an effort to come across as friendly and accessible." What Jiang did in the United States, according to David Shambaugh of George Washington University, was something he had "never done before. He's gambled in doing so." As such, ABC saw a glimmer of hope in the transformation of Jiang and, for that matter, China. The story said that if Jiang was "willing to gamble on changes in style, maybe that will lead to changes in substance as the relatio nship develops." Within eight months, President Clinton had the opportunity to see how far Jiang and China have turned around. It was time for Jiang to showcase the summit in his own terms and on his own turf. Mr. Clinton Goes to Beijing: The Summit on CCTV President Clinton visited China from June 25 to July 4, 1998. Other than diplomatic protocols and routines, Clinton and the United States were reported on CCTV news in a specific plot and subject area. Categorically missing was the Clinton-Lewinsky affair. There was no reference or hint whatsoever about this sexual encounter on CCTV news during Clinton's stay in China. Such absence testified to the common acceptance among Chinese journalists of what was possible and permissible in the news media at the collective level, especially when Sino-American relations was involved. The unifying tenet appeared to be a deliberate effort to forge a coherent body of knowledge about Clinton's visit to China and its implications for the world at large. In more than 30 stories, the plot and the careful use of characters as well as the rhetoric were organized in a way to elicit a certain reading of the Beijing summit. From day 1, Clinton's visit was unequivocally touted on CCTV as an important step in the right direction that would improve Sino-American relations in all areas and benefit mutual interests, hence setting up the basic tone and preferred thematic focus for the journey to come. In an 88-second piece from its Washington, D.C. correspondence, CCTV reminded the viewers that Clinton's reciprocal trip following President Jiang's state visit to the United States in 1997 received heavy coverage and comments in Chinese language newspapers and major dailies in the United States, such as New York Times and Washington Post. The story surveyed public responses from both U.S. officials and civilians as well as governmental and media reactions from around the world in a consistent articulation of the imminent Jiang-Clinton summit. On Clinton's arrival in Xian, the thrust of the story showed Clinton's tour of a village and his conference with six ordinary people. They sat neatly in a prearranged half circle facing the camera. None of the participants-a college student, an elementary school teacher, a doctor, and the head of a nursery home-was heard directly on CCTV news, however. It was at an elementary school in the village that Clinton gave his first public speech, with hundreds of students and teachers in the audience. Via the voice of narrator, Clinton praised China and underscored his trip was to strengthen the friendship between the two countries. In 100 seconds, both the visual and the verbal were all positive regarding China's past and its future. The story was followed immediately by a report on the U.S. investment in Shanghai, emphasizing the increasing role played by American companies in cross-national banking, high-tech, auto-manufacturing, and insurance sectors. A 26-second promo for a special report on the "CCTV News Investigation," titled "The Handshake of Great Nations," summarized the focus of the story plot, proclaiming the visits by leaders of China and the United States as profound historical events. It was a prelude for an extravagant and extensive coverage of Clinton's visit. On the day of Jiang-Clinton summit, CCTV gave its viewers a heavy dose of Sino-American relations, devoting more than 18 minutes in the top six stories to Clinton's meetings with Jiang and Premier Zhu Rongji in various settings. In order to accommodate an extensive reading of names of high-ranking Chinese and American officials in the lead story, the camera kept moving from left to right and back, with officials from both sides standing in full attention. Apparently, the parade of Chinese governmental officials in public view was to accentuate their legitimacy and prominence. The film was followed by a still photo of Clinton, with a biography rolling up from the bottom of screen, describing in detail his birth, education, public services, and achievements as governor of Arkansas and his election to the U.S. presidency in 1992 and 1996. In more than six minutes, the plot was straightforward and the rhetoric purely factual and non-judgmental. The piece allowed viewers to know Clinton as a person and a politician, but left no room for imagination about his personal conduct or political misbehavior. Monica Lewinsky and her sexual escapade with Clinton simply did not exist. The second story got down to serious business and the nitty-gritty of Sino-American relations. Through the narrator's voice, the story quickly zeroed in on a lengthy reading of Jiang's remarks that touched on the importance of mutual understanding and cooperation, world peace and non-proliferation of massive destruction weapons, the problem of Taiwan, and non-interference with domestic affairs between China and the United States. Via a Chinese narration, Clinton reiterated the U.S. position on the Taiwan issues, U.S.-China strategic cooperation and American support of China's WTO membership. Like the plot in many other stories, the leading characters could be seen, but the voice was not their own. CCTV viewers had no way of hearing what actually was said, not even the sound bites. The narrator controlled the flow of ideas. During the exchange, the narrator alternated between Jiang's remarks and those of Clinton's. In the nearly 7-minute recitation of statements, the camera took shots between Chinese and American delegations, focusing on the two leaders from time to time. Because of limited angles, the images ended up repeating identical pictures of Jiang and Clinton while the recounting continued to unfold. This story clearly indicated that the presentation of text was primary whereas the visual secondary in Chinese foreign policy stories on CCTV. In the case of the Jiang-Clinton summit, the visual served as a mechanism that helped extend the textual intended by the Chinese host to convey desirable messages to the viewers. What matters in the story telling is not necessarily the visual imperative, as is often pursued by American television networks, but rather the favored articulation of a precise point of view. This could only be accomplished via the carefully constructed news narratives. For example, the Taiwan problem was mentioned three times in the story. Anyone who watched the summit report would have no difficulty hearing that Taiwan was an integral part of China and that the United States acknowledged the Chinese position. As a matter of fact, the Taiwan issue would become a key theme that popped up in Clinton's talks on two consecutive days. Although Taiwan as a presumed third party to the Sino-American diplomatic dialogue was written into the script, it had no role to play on its own. It was effectively used in the plot to affirm China's claim of sovereign jurisdiction over the island nation. The only time the two presidents spoke for themselves directly occurred in a 3-minute piece. Reading from a text, Jiang talked about the contribution of Sino-U.S. cooperation to world peace, the agreement not to target nuclear weapons at each other and his hope for the two countries to fight against international terrorism and drug trafficking and to protect the environment. Loaded with condensational words, his remarks did not deviate from the main ideas he laid out in the earlier meeting with Clinton. Jiang got the best part of this story, taking the lead and doing the most talk. In the rhetoric, China stood tall and ready as an equal partner to the United States. For his share, Clinton spoke in his own voice and an American translator provided the Chinese version. Although his portion was much shorter, Clinton appeared to endorse Jiang's position. Praising Jiang's leadership, Clinton said that "a stable, open and prosperous China shouldering its responsibility for a safer world is good for the United States." This statement was repeated in Chinese by the American translator. The piece ended with an anchorperson's voice-over, indicating that Jiang and Clinton also answered questions at the press conference. An American reporter could be seen in the film asking questions, with the sound deleted. Clinton was last heard saying in the background that both countries agreed not to target nuclear weapons against each other. For any casual viewer, this story did not differ much from all other stories during Clinton's visit to China. It was bland and talked about familiar topics. For those who happened to watch the live broadcast of Jiang-Clinton press conference on CCTV-1, there was much more than meets the eyes in the edited version. The story never mentioned that Jiang and Clinton held a hour-long press conference that was broadcast live in its entirety all over China. In fact, the spontaneous news conference was not advertised in advance. How many Chinese viewers actually watched the lively press conference was difficult to determine. The New York Times (June 28, 1998) reported that more Chinese would have tuned to the press conference if only they had known. But it was apparently never meant to be known in the plot on CCTV even after it had taken place. The Jiang-Clinton live press conference was the first ever on CCTV. By all accounts, it was indeed remarkable and unprecedented in the history of Chinese television. It covered a wide variety of sensitive topics, ranging from human rights, the thorny issue of Tibet to dissidents in China and the Chinese government's crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Square student demonstration. Clinton specifically stated that the "tragic loss of life" was "wrong." An American reporter pointedly questioned the detention of four dissidents in Xian and 2,000 other dissidents who were taken to jail before Clinton arrived in China. The questions and answers were intense. For nearly an hour, the conference was a site of struggle for definitions and interpretations of past events that once marred Sino-American relations. None of these sensitive subjects and other controversial issues, however, made it to the CCTV 7 p.m. primetime news. Although CCTV has become relatively open in recent years, the treatment of the news conference followed a well-known Chinese journalistic practice: the presentation of scripted events and preferred interpretation. This was exactly what happened to the remaining stories on the third day of Clinton's visit. After some protocols and routine meetings, a brief story switched the location from China to the United States. The characters included in the segment did not speak directly, but they obviously were brought in to provide additional rhetoric in the narratives. The Chinese effort to spin the story through not just Us, but the Others was undeniable. In a CCTV Washington correspondence on reactions from political and academic circles, the voice-over again touted the Beijing summit as mutually beneficial to both countries and the positive response from the American public. The message is: it was not simply the Chinese, but American officials and civilians alike, who applauded the presidential trip. On June 29, CCTV began in a short story that showed Jiang bidding farewell to the Clinton entourage at the Zhongnanhai compound where the Chinese top leadership lives and works. Major participants from both sides were introduced individually. The reading of names appeared to affirm the status and authority of the Chinese leadership more than the American counterparts. Two stories later, Clinton was shown talking to more than 600 students at the Beijing University. The visual displayed a well packed auditorium with many students standing in the side aisles. With a voice over, this story ran nearly 3 minutes and was the longest piece for the rest of Clinton's schedule. After expressing admiration of China's contribution to culture, religion, literature, and philosophy, Clinton indicated that the United States intended to develop a full relationship with China through direct communication and mutual cooperation. In questions and answers, Clinton was quoted as saying that the U nited States would adhere to the "Three Nos" policy toward Taiwan: no support for its independence, no support for the idea of "one China, one Taiwan" or "two Chinas" and no support for Taiwan in any world organization that requires statehood. Whether economic affairs or international relations, the linkage among characters, issues and the genre of "politics in command" was unequivocal. Three more stories completed Clinton's China visit in the domestic segment. All were essentially customary and protocol, portraying representatives from both countries signing agreements on economic, trade, nuclear technology, and health issues. The first story in the foreign news segment spent 75 seconds, an unusual amount of time in that portion of CCTV newscast, describing what ordinary Americans thought of Clinton's trip to China. A CCTV Washington correspondent interviewed four women and two men at what looked like a social gathering where many people could be seen in the background. None of the six respondents was heard in their own words. Through the narrator's voice, the respondents noted that China was important and influential in the world affairs and Clinton's trip was a right decision. One said that because of different history, social system and cultural idiosyncrasies, it was natural for the United States and China to have disagreements, but there were more common similarities than differences. Relying on American reactions, this piece not only explicitly repeated the approving themes in previous stories, but also subtly defended Chinese approaches to unidentified internal issues that might not be well received on the American side. Clinton's tour of Shanghai no longer commanded top attention and the two stories were relegated to the middle of the news lineup for about three minutes. The narration on CCTV, however, made the most of Clinton's remarks to score political points. Via the narrator's voice, Clinton said that a strong, open and prosperous new China was emerging and that the two countries should improve relations through dialogue and cooperation to enhance mutual understanding. The U.S. "Three Nos" policy toward Taiwan was again stressed. In a talk with representatives from various professions, the voice-over restated Clinton's call for a better relationship between China and the United States. It accentuated Clinton's statement that the United States should be more positive in China's modernization by way of scientific and technological cooperation and transfer of environmental skills and techniques to China. Like the previous day, the foreign news segment included a piece about foreign reactions to Clinton's China trip. These were subplots designed to extend the significance of the Beijing summit from the domestic to the international setting. With no visuals, the narrative said news media in Thailand, Britain, Australia, Finland, Cuba, and France highly praised the summit. As retold by CCTV, foreign news media believed that the two countries made a giant step in Beijing for a long term strategic cooperation. In the eyes of foreign news media, CCTV said, Sino-American relations had a significant impact on world peace and stability. Quoting unidentified foreign sources, the narration said, "China is emerging. Without China, it is impossible for the world economy to be stable." This 68-second report left little doubt about how China wanted to shape the perception and interpretation of U.S.-China relations. Two major anniversaries fell on July 1, 1998: the first anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China and the 77th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party in China. Three stories for about 12 minutes topped the CCTV news lineup. Clinton appeared in two stories in the middle of the domestic segment for nearly four minutes. Interviewed by two CCTV reporters in Shanghai, the narration said Clinton emphasized the mutual trust between the two great nations as instrumental in the stability and security of the Asia-Pacific and praised China's development and common interests of Sino-American relations. The positive impressions of Chinese economic success were recited on CCTV in Clinton's breakfast talk at the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and in his tours of the Shanghai Stock Exchange and a housing project. With more than one minute, a story in the day's foreign news section again cited enthusiastic responses from governments in Vietnam, Pakis tan and Japan and news media in the United States, Germany, Malaysia, Britain, and Russia. The story clearly put China at the center of world attention and the narration had an air of pride. The foreign reports simply reinforced the domestic story plot. The news about Jiang's visit to Hong Kong dominated the CCTV lineup on July 2. One story about Clinton in Guilin, Guangxi was buried at the bottom of the domestic segment in that Clinton talked about environmental policy protection and applauded efforts of China's scientists and citizens in protecting the environment. This story was free of any political undertone and no foreign comments were offered. The total calculation and symbolic treatment of Clinton's visit were most visible when the U.S. delegation left Guilin for Hong Kong. Ostensibly, the major stories on the day had nothing to do with the United States. Any keen observer, however, should have little difficulty in detecting the astute connection between China's meetings with close allies in the former Soviet camp and Clinton's departure for Hong Kong on the same day. The top four stories on CCTV devoted more than 11 minutes to Jiang's meetings with leaders from Russia and four other former Soviet republics. The five leaders talked about military cooperation and issued comm uniqu‚ pledging closer relations in a wide range of areas. These events were clearly pre-arranged and timed to occur on that day. The plot and the cast of different characters were apparently set up to articulate China's even-handed strategy in foreign relations and to send a functional message toward the United States. Later in the newscast, for more than four minutes, three stories showed Clinton meeting with Hong Kong's Chief Executive Tung Chi-hwa, giving a speech, and holding a press conference. Again, Clinton was never heard directly. Via narration, he praised the success of China's "one country, two systems" policy-an unmistakable endorsement of Beijing's social experiment with the marriage of capitalism and communism. He also reiterated that a close Sino-American relations brought hope to peace, stability and prosperity in Asia and around the world. These pieces were loaded with upbeat messages and admiration of China as a great nation as well as the grand vision of Jiang and the Chinese leadership. His main theme was that the U.S. policy was not to contain, but to cooperate with China in hope of fostering a strong "strategic partnership." In light of Jiang's earlier meetings with leaders from neighboring countries in the same newscast, these stories therefore tacitly acknowledged C hina as a powerful player in the world politics. Clinton's visit officially ended the day when he left Hong Kong for the United States on July 4. Three short stories at the bottom of the domestic segment on CCTV wrapped up the complete coverage of Clinton's sojourn on the Chinese soil. Although routine, these clips put a final touch on a well polished theme during the past 10 days, repeating again Clinton's positive evaluations of the huge changes in China and his compliment on the governing ability of the Chinese leadership. Without identifying those interviewed for the story from Washington, a CCTV correspondent simply used the terms "they," "many of them," or "many ordinary Americans" to refer to the public comments on the success of Clinton's trip and the trust, friendship and understanding between the two countries and their influence on peace and stability of the world. The story concluded this way: many ordinary Americans indicated that as seen during Clinton's visit, China and the Chinese people were nothing like wha t was reported in the U.S. news media before. The last statement gave away how CCTV attempted to shape Clinton's visit and what it might hope to achieve. The central plot, the arrangement of characters and the narratives were packaged coherently to make China look good, to advance its international status, and to mold the worldview based on the Chinese specifications. Comparing the Summits: From Here to There Technically, both ABC and CCTV treated the respective summit in roughly the same manner. Before and after the summits, there were relatively few stories on any given day. They were also placed in later spots, signifying their lesser newsworthiness. The highlight of the presidential trips culminated on the summit meeting that gave the Chinese and American national TV networks ample opportunities and possibilities to construct and represent issues of concerns and importance to the two countries. For the most part, ABC and CCTV followed similar journalistic routines and standard operating procedures in the use of images and scripts in their presentations of the summit-related stories. The nuance of narration, the tendency of reducing complex reality to manageable facts and the persistence of viewing the world based on a particular point of reference lie in the qualitative aspect of the news. As a total package consisted of visual images, words and actors as well as other defining properties, the news narrative constitutes a useful epistemological starting point for unraveling the structure and patterns of story telling in the high drama of presidential politics at the international level. The main thrust of comparison between the two summits is to place the epicenter within the immediate national geopolitical landscape and to determine where and how the news media locate themselves as narrators in the international political drama. For the respective and compatible summits in Beijing and Washington, D.C., the range of vision, the organizational logistic support and institutional access to related information make the political drama closer to home more sensitive and responsive to domestic sentiments than overseas dispositions. Comparing the two summits in the network's own home territory should help answer how and why the reporting of political drama unfolded in a specific narrative in a particular context. Table 1 summarizes the sharp contrast of news narratives between ABC and CCTV networks. Several conclusions can be drawn from the comparison. First, the Beijing summit on CCTV was not as open to historical deliberation as the Washington summit on ABC. To some extent, Chinese viewers were deprived of the full exposure or had only partial access to a wide range of events or issues. The general plot on ABC was to juxtapose past and present events in a contextual package that contained many competing images during Jiang's visit in the United States. Although the Chinese views and responses to external challenges to China's internal behaviors were acknowledged, ABC injected a sense of background knowledge in its narratives by placing the news against the backdrop of some sensitive issues that helped define Sino-American relations during the past decade, such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident, human rights, and the problem of Taiwan. Part of such narratives was dictated by the necessity of linking contemporary events (e.g., demonstrations and protests against Jiang) to the underlying issues that prompted their appeara nces as news. Still, ABC's propensity to highlight the present China within the context of its past was unambiguous: It asked provocative questions, supplied competing images and provided paternalistic answers. By comparison, CCTV was rather straightforward and business like in its coverage of the Beijing summit. It made statements, avoided contradictions and constructed consistent images. For the most part, there was no linkage to any historical events that had troubled either China or the United States or both. Notably missing, for example, was the White House scandal that threatened to topple the Clinton's presidency. Unlike the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident, the Clinton affair was still unfolding and had stirred a worldwide sensation. Its exclusion on CCTV apparently was designed to make a statement that U.S. domestic matters had no place in Sino-American relations. The use of images and narratives on CCTV therefore fostered a consonant imprint of normal progress and forward looking in China. There was little clue to the collective understanding of the complex issues involved between the two countries. Couched in a specific framework, the presentation inevitably favored the central authority and institutions controlling the Chinese society and the news media. Second, the political dramas on both ABC and CCTV featured more or less a diverse cast of characters with different functions to fulfill. The two presidents naturally took the center stage and followed very much pre-arranged scripts in their dialogues. Beyond the leading actors, the supporting characters varied greatly between the Washington and Beijing summits. At the Washington summit, a number of American demonstrators, activists, scholars, business people, and farmers as well as Chinese dissidents living in the United States appeared on CCTV either to denounce Beijing for its record on human rights or to welcome the China trade opportunities. For every statement or act Jiang made in the United States, there was readily a counter-statement or a counteract from U.S. officials and civilians alike. The Chinese leadership and government were often typecast as the villain because of China's repression in Tibet and its unrepentant position on the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident. Whether explici t or implicit in the ABC narratives, China was often put on the hot spot and was expected to be held accountable. At the Beijing summit, China also stood in the spotlight, but was surrounded by a more acquiescent cast. On CCTV, the Chinese leaders and government emerged as heroes and defenders of China's national interests. The images appeared to be more than a narcissistic self-portrait by the lead actors. Other supporting characters were introduced to embrace China and to endorse the performance of Chinese leadership on the world stage. While not as variegated and engaged as those on ABC, these actors served as surrogates to demonstrate that it is not simply "We"-the Chinese, but "Others" too-foreign governments, media and ordinary people-who shared China's worldview. On CCTV, there was no conflict between "us" and "them." The Beijing summit was a manifestation of China at peace with itself and the rest of the world. Third, rhetorically, the two national television networks framed the Washington and Beijing summits from divergent points of view, through which China as an object of observation and explication turned out to be the focal point. It was constructed to be known with given properties, to be put in perspective within certain parameters and to become typified in some fashion. At the Washington summit, the framing device on ABC turned out to be instructive and prescriptive: China was problematic in its internal and external practices, behaved like a deviant case with therapeutic lessons to be learned, and had to follow the corrective path in order to join the community of nations. China was molded according to U.S. specifications and satisfaction. Because Jiang came to visit, Washington served as the point of reference for Beijing to act. On the contrary, at the Beijing summit, CCTV sketched China in a descriptive and demonstrative manner, positioning the country as the center of worldwide attention and steering free of international petty politics. Staying within official boundaries, CCTV's rhetorical device showcased what China was through its presentation of a rising nation participating in normal geopolitical relations, whose standing deserved to be respected in the family of nations. Indeed, the CCTV narratives concocted a Chinese national identity that deviated significantly from that on ABC several months earlier, where China appeared to be nothing but a nation in desperate need of fundamental repairs on many aspects, including its reputation as a civilized society. A sense of national pride or nationalism became the driving force behind CCTV's projection of China as worthy of equal status among the world powers. Since Clinton came to visit, the United States showed its respect to China and Beijing deser ved to be recognized. Fourth, the news narratives on ABC and CCTV performed different functions in the respective context. As demonstrated through some sort of "question and answer" formula in its story telling, ABC at the Washington summit was both inquisitive and dialectical, underscoring an enduring practice of American journalism to leave no stone unturned in its pursuit of the "big story." For U.S. journalists, the truth about the Tiananmen Square incident has yet to be uncovered and its last chapter to be written. The summit constituted a legitimate site to interrogate the authenticity of this story as retold by those who shaped or were shaped by the tragic event. It was an event full of historical contradictions and conflicts that remained ideologically open for interpretations. All other events could be readily exploited one way or another in the narratives as pathways to unravel the uncertain and shed light on the unknown. What ABC did in its narratives of the Washington summit became dislodged at the Beijing summit on CCTV. Truth, as it might be dialectically determined, gave way to a normative rationality aimed at building a consensus at home and abroad. The adversarial American journalists found themselves silenced in the CCTV narratives and were replaced by the Chinese advocates who sought to impose a single correct view of China's turmoil in the extant past that had long been deemed closed for further exposition. The closure came about not through the state's coming to terms with the complete disclosure and reflection of its profound implications, but through the suppression and expulsion of the event from public discourse in the news. The normalized narratives on CCTV with no trace whatsoever to China's catastrophe in recent memory represented an intense antithesis to that of ABC that refused to let history fade into oblivion. From Beijing to Washington or from here to there, the two netw orks constructed the presidential summits as high political dramas in Sino-American relations by means of a disparate narrative that put one summit at odds with the other. Events are subject to narration. Imposed by the respective socio-political structure, the narratives determine what is to be seen and known at the summits. Without first-hand knowledge of the presidential summits they see on television, viewers in both China and the United States experience the events indirectly, through the prism of journalists' interpretations. References Bird, S. Elizabeth & Dardenne, Robert. W. (1988). Myth, chronicle, and story: Exploring the narrative qualities of news. In James W. Carey (Ed.), Media, myths, and narratives: Television and the press (pp. 67-86). Newbury Park: Sage. Chang, T. K., Wang, J., & Chen, C. H. (1994). News as social knowledge in China: The changing worldview of Chinese national media. Journal of Communication, 44, 52-69. Dayan, D. & Katz, E. (1992). Media events: The live broadcasting of history. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Durham, F. D. (1998). News frames as social narratives: TWA Flight 800. Journal of Communication, 48, 100-117. Entman, R. M. (1991). Framing U.S. coverage of international news: Contrasts in narratives of the KAL and Iran Air incidents. Journal of Communication, 41, 6-27. Fish, S. (1980). Is there a text in this class? The authority of interpretive communities. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Fisher, W. R. (1985). The narrative paradigm: In the beginning. Journal of Communication, 35, 74-89. Hallin, D. C. & Mancini, P. (1992). The summit as media event: The Reagan/Gorbachev meetings on U.S., Italian, and Soviet Television. In J. G. Blumler, J. M. McLeod & K. E. Rosengren (Eds.), Comparatively speaking: Communication and culture across space and time (pp. 121-139). Newbury Park: Sage. Hart, R. P. (1987). The sound of leadership: Presidential communication in the modern age. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Hart, R. P., Smith-Howell, D., & Llewellyn, J. (1991). The mindscape of the presidency: Time magazine, 1945-1985. Journal of Communication, 41, 6-25. Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures. New York: BasicBooks. Jacobs, R. N. (2000). Race, media and the crisis of civil society: From watts to Rodney King. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Jensen, K. B. (1987). News as ideology: Economic statistics and political ritual in television network news. Journal of Communication, 37, 8-26. Lee, C. C. (Ed.). (1990). Voices of China: The interplay of politics and journalism. New York: Guilford Press. Lee, C. C. (Ed.). (2000). Power, money, and media: Communication patterns and bureaucratic control in cultural China. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press. Lucaites, J. L. & Condit, C. M. (1985). Re-constructing narrative theory: A functional perspective. Journal of Communication, 35, 90-108. Kieran, M. (1997). News reporting and the ideological presumption. Journal of Communication, 47, 79-96. MacKinnon, S. R. & Friesen, O. (1987). China reporting: An oral history of American journalism in the 1930s and 1940s. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. MacKuen, M. B. (1983). Political drama, economic conditions, and the dynamics of presidential popularity. American Journal of Political Science, 27, 165-192. Ostrom, C. W., Jr. & Simon, D. M. (1989). The man in the teflon suit? The environmental connection, political drama, and popular support in the Reagan presidency. Public Opinion Quarterly, 53, 353-387. Oyen, E. (Ed.). (1990). Comparative methodology: Theory and practice in international social research. London: Sage. Pan, Z., Lee, C. C., Chan, J. M., & So, C. Y. K. (1999). One event, three stories: Media narrative of the handover of Hong Kong in cultural China. Gazette, 61, 99-112. Park, R. E. (1955). Society: Collective behavior, news and opinion, sociology and modern society. Glencoe, IL: Free Press. Plischke, E. (1968). Eisenhower's "correspondence diplomacy" with the Kremlin-Case study in summit diplomatics. The Journal of Politics, 30, 137-159. Roeh, I. & Cohen, A. A. (1992). One of the bloodies days: A comparative analysis of open and closed television news. Journal of Communication, 42, 42-55). Said, E. (1978). Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books. Said, E. (1997). Covering Islam: How the media and the experts determine how we see the rest of the world. New York: Vintage Books. Simon, D. M. & Ostrom, C. W., Jr. (1989). The impact of televised speeches and foreign travel on presidential approval. Public Opinion Quarterly, 53, 58-82. Smelser, N. J. (1976). Comparative methods in the social sciences. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. So, C. Y. K. (1987). The summit as war: How journalists use metaphors. Journalism Quarterly, 64, 623-626. Van Dijk, T. A. (1988). News as discourse. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Wasserstrom, J. N. (2000). Big bad China and the good Chinese: An American fairy tale. In T. B. Weston & L. M. Jensen (Eds.), China beyond the headlines (pp. 13-35). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Table 1: Presidential Summits and News Narratives on ABC and CCTV ______________________________________________________________________________ Washington Summit Beijing Summit (October 26-31, 1997) (June 25-July 4, 1998) News Narratives ABC CCTV The Plot Juxtaposition of past and Chronology of present events present events Competing images Consistent images Characters Leading actors, many Leading actors, few supporting characters: supporting characters: Officials, protesters, activists, Officials, foreign media, dissidents, scholars, managers, governments and citizens consumers, and farmers Genre Chinese leaders and Chinese leaders and government as villain government as heroes Abusers of human rights Defenders of national Interests and world peace Rhetorical Device Instructive/Prescriptive: Descriptive/Demonstrative: China problematic China rising Lessons to be learned Status to be respected What China ought to be What China is Function Dialectical: Normative: Truth seeking Consensus building Journalistic Practice Adversary: Advocate: Inquisitive Persuasive Ideological Vision Open: Closed: Conflicting views Single correct view ______________________________________________________________________________