The Image of the Political Leader of the PRC in Western Media: Strategies for Shaping and Perceiving the Image of Xi Jinping

The article analyzes how the image of Xi Jinping is formed and perceived in the Western media, taking into account Chinese image promotion strategies, the critical attitude of the Western media and data from international opinion polls. The article reveals the peculiarities of perception against the background of geopolitical and ideological differences between East and West. The information campaigns conducted by China to form a positive image of the country and its leadership abroad are described. The role of propaganda, diplomacy, media control and cultural programs is considered. Special attention is paid to the critical coverage of Xi's domestic and foreign policy in Western media, as well as the results of international surveys showing a low level of confidence in Xi in developed democracies and a relatively high level in a number of developing countries. The study uses qualitative content analysis of media materials and quantitative analysis of international survey data. The methodology includes studying Chinese information campaigns, analyzing Western media publications (for example, The New York Times), using assessments from independent organizations (for example, Freedom House), and interpreting the results of global confidence surveys in Xi Jinping. The scientific novelty of the work consists in an interdisciplinary comparative analysis of the image of Xi Jinping in Western and Chinese sources using the methods of content analysis, discursive analysis and narrative framing. For the first time, the article systematizes stable frames, rhetorical patterns, and visual strategies that form a dual representation of the Chinese leader both inside and outside China. The work details the mechanisms of Chinese public diplomacy (for example, the Belt and Road Initiative, the activities of the Confucius Institutes, and the work of the Xinhua News Agency), as well as highlights key frames in Western media discourse. Based on a quantitative analysis of international polls, a significant gap in the level of trust in the Chinese leader has been demonstrated: in developed democracies it does not exceed 20% (for example, Germany – 16%, Japan – 8%), while in a number of developing countries it reaches 50-66% (Nigeria – 66%, Kenya – 64%). These data confirm the existence of a stable perception asymmetry between the West and the Global South. It is concluded that the gap in the perception of the Chinese leader remains between the West and the countries of the Global South.

Xi Jinping, China, Western media, image, propaganda, public opinion, trust, international relations, media campaigns, perception