Constructing Legitimacy and National Identity in Chinese State Media: A Critical Discourse Analysis of People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency and China Daily (2018–2024)

This paper examines how Chinese state media construct national legitimacy and identity by portraying a positive national self in contrast to external others. The study analyses 120 articles published between 2018 and 2024 by People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency and China Daily, covering political news reports, editorials and foreign-affairs commentaries. Drawing on Fairclough’s three-dimensional model of Critical Discourse Analysis, the paper examines lexical choices, metaphorical framing, intertextual references and the links between textual features and wider socio-political practices. The findings show that China is repeatedly represented as stable, historically continuous, developmental and morally responsible, whereas external actors are often portrayed as inconsistent, intrusive or disruptive. These representations are produced through positive evaluative language, contrasts between cooperation and interference, and appeals to history and international norms. The article argues that such discursive practices support political legitimation by associating state authority with national achievement, moral governance and defensive nationalism. It contributes to the literature on media, power and identity by showing how legitimacy is constructed through routine discourse in contemporary Chinese state media.