I've decided that with my limited resources the best way to examine representations of China in the Canadian media is to also limit my media sources. The Globe and Mail, being the only truly national newspaper (the National "Post" isn't available by subscription in many regions, including Halifax) provides a good starting point. At this time, I've decided to limit the study to stories about China appearing in the print edition of The Globe and Mail.
Today's Globe carried three stories dealing with China. One from the business section reports on China's rising oil imports. The report from the AP suggests that the rise is largely due to China's auto boom. For more detailed analysis of China, Canada and Energy see: http://www.canasianaffairs.com/2006/12/chinese_energy_demand_and_cana.html
The next story written by Mitch Moxley special for the Globe details the experience of a Canadian Chef opening a new high-end restaurant in Beijing. Much of the story deals with the biography of the Japanese-Canadian chef Makata Ono. Beijing is presented as a fast-growing newcomer to the culinary scene. The coming Olympics act to define Beijing as a city reaching maturity. This theme will no doubt become much more obvious over the next few weeks. Beijing, and China more generally, are often depicted by the Canadian media as reaching an important point in its development, both economic and cultural.
Today's third story was written by Marcus Gee, again for the business section. Gee provides an analysis of the Asian, and more specifically the Chinese, reaction to the present financial market downturn. He concludes that unlike the 1997 Asian financial crisis, China and other Asian economies are better set to cope with this downturn. Using an interesting modernist metaphor he claims that "the locomotive of Asian growth will stay on the tracks." Gee suggests that Asia has become more economically independent over the past decade. While the Western financial woes will invariably have negative impacts on the Chinese economy, it is supposed that the Chinese economy will continue its impressive growth nonetheless.
Of note in Gee's article is the way he treats China as representative of broader Asian trends; a leader within the Asian financial community. This "regional giant" is now assumed to be more independent and on better financial footing than it was even just a decade ago. This developmental discourse features large in Canadian reports about China.