Abstract：With the comprehensive national strength of China burgeoning, it has aroused the attention of the world and worried some countries, especially the United States which publishes Military Power of the People’s Republic of China (MPPRC) from 2000 every year. This study focuses on the reports of recent 8 years from the perspective of the discourse study. It explores the discoursive strategies (the use of words, sentences and rhetoric techniques) used in the military reports that the U.S. creates a negative semantic prosody and exaggerates China’s military power to accuse China of the lack of transparency and spread “China Threat Theory”. It is suggested that China must strengthen its national security (academic) construction of discourse system in order to deconstruct “China Threat Theory”. It is of great significance to disseminate China's National Defense Policy comprehensively with multiple channels.

Key words: semantic prosody; cultural discourse studies; China Threat Theory; MPPRC

中国军力报告的话语研究

摘  要：中国综合国力的不断增强引起了国际社会的关注，也让一些国家感觉不安，美国自2000年（2001年除外）以来每年发布中国军力报告对社会各界产生一定影响。本研究从话语研究角度出发，分析近八年来中国军力报告的表述，探索美国的话语策略。美国以消极的语义韵及夸大等手法制造舆论，夸大中国的军费开支，质疑军事透明度，夸大台海军力差距，渲染“中国威胁论”。笔者建议中国加强国家安全(学术)话语体系的建设，全面地传播中国国防政策。

关键词：语义韵；文化话语研究；中国威胁论；中国军力报告

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Background of the Present Research 1

1.2 Significance of the Study 1

1.3 Aims of the Study 2

1.4 Organization of the Study 2

2. Literature Review 4

2.1 Previous studies on semantic prosody 4

2.1.1 Previous Studies on semantic prosody abroad 4

2.1.2 Previous Studies on semantic prosody at home 4

2.2 Previous cultural discourse studies 5

3. Methodology 6

3.1 Data Collection 6

3.2 Instrument 6

3.3 Research Procedure 6

3.3.1 Semantic prosody study 6

3.3.2 Cultural discourse studies 6

4. Research and Discussion 8

4.1 The Focuses of the Military Power of the People’s Republic of China 8

4.1.1 The Similarities of Annual Military Power of the People’s Republic of China 8

4.1.2 The Differences of Annual Military Power of the People’s Republic of China 9

4.2 Research on semantic prosody and cultural discourse studies 9

4.2.1 Semantic prosody of transparency 9

4.2.2 The historical background of MPPRC 10

4.2.3 The misinterpretation of China’s attitude towards active defense strategy 11

4.2.4 The utterance deficiency in espionage activities and maritime conflicts 12

4.2.5 The exaggeration of China’s military expenditures 12

5. Conclusion 14

5.1 Major Findings 14

5.1.1 The Similarities and Differences of Annual Military Power of the People’s Republic of China 14

5.1.2 Semantic prosody of transparency 14

5.1.3 Cultural discourse studies of MPPRC 14

5.1.4 Implicit Aims behind MPPRC 15

5.2 Limitations of the Study 15

5.3 Suggestions for the Further Study 15

References 16

1. Introduction

1.1 Background of the Present Research

With more frequent communication and closer cooperation between China and other countries developing, China’s overall national strength is burgeoning. It arouses the fear of some western countries such as the United States maintaining “China Threat Theory” which has the potential meaning that a strong nation is bound to seek hegemony. Therefore, annual Military Power of the People’s Republic of China (MPPRC) has been published by the Department of Defense of the United States on China’s military power every year since 2000 (except 2001). The full name of the report is: ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS: Military Power of the People’s Republic of China. The data is collected from other military materials, including experts’ talks and works, military news and research works published in media and journals.