Representations of 5G in the Chinese and British press: a corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis

The paper examines how 5G, a widely discussed technological and socio-political topic, is represented in Chinese and British mainstream press. It addresses a gap in comparative cross-country media studies on 5G representations, motivated by Huawei’s central role in 5G and the UK’s shifting policy stance toward Huawei (from viewing it as a manageable risk in 2019 to banning Huawei equipment in 2020). The study aims to identify dominant themes in 5G news discourse and explain how journalistic ideologies and socio-political contexts shape these patterns, thereby informing public understanding of science and technology.

Prior work largely falls into two strands: (i) the production and spread of 5G conspiracy theories online (e.g., Buarque, 2022; Gagliardone et al., 2021), and (ii) the media framing of Huawei (e.g., Yang & Kang, 2020). Limited studies examine press representations within single countries (e.g., Britain: Mansell & Plantin, 2020; Russia: Ventsel et al., 2021; Germany: Dong & Gao, 2022). Advertising portrayals differ across countries (Campbell et al., 2021). The literature and the Huawei–UK trajectory indicate 5G is politicized, implicating security, national interests, and geopolitics. Critical Discourse Studies (CDS), especially Wodak’s discourse-historical approach (DHA), is positioned as suitable to uncover ideologies and power dynamics in media 5G discourse. Few studies have applied CDS to 5G press coverage, motivating this comparative, corpus-assisted analysis.

Design: A corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis combining corpus-assisted discourse studies (CADS) with Wodak’s DHA. Data: Two LexisNexis-derived corpora of English-language news with '5G' (or 'fifth generation of wireless infrastructure') in headlines, from 05/13/2013 to 06/13/2022. Chinese corpus (CC): China Daily and its Africa Weekly, US, Hong Kong, and European editions (657 articles). British corpus (BC): The Guardian/The Observer, The Times/The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph/The Sunday Telegraph (577 articles). Reference corpus: British National Corpus (BNC, 100M words) for keyness comparison. Procedure: Using WordSmith 8.0, keywords were extracted by comparing each corpus to BNC, integrating log-likelihood (p = 0.000001) and log ratio; words had to appear in at least 10% of texts (≥66 in CC; ≥58 in BC) and meet a log ratio ≥ 7; numeric tokens were excluded. This yielded 69 CC and 50 BC keywords. Keywords were thematically categorized after concordance checks into: (i) problem definition (nature of 5G), (ii) social actors (telecom operators/equipment suppliers; countries/cities/institutions; government officials/corporate executives), (iii) actions (5G implementation across upstream/midstream/downstream), and (iv) timing (years; COVID-19 era). Collocation and concordance analyses (L/R windows up to 5) on selected keywords (chosen by frequency/log ratio and contrasting representational value) were conducted; only non-function collocates were considered. The UCREL LL/effect size calculator was also used to quantify differences. For DHA, analyses focused on discursive strategies (referential/nomination, predication, argumentation, perspectivation, intensification/mitigation) to interpret patterns within socio-political contexts. Note: '5G' was replaced with 'FiveG' in collocate listings to enable recognition by the software.

- Themes: Four themes structure 5G coverage in both corpora: nature of 5G; social actors (notably Huawei and telecom firms); actions (implementation across upstream, midstream, downstream); and timing (years, COVID-19 era). - Nature of 5G: CC frames 5G with positive evaluative collocates (e.g., with 5G: 'first' 140; 'million' 121; 'largest' 79; 'superfast' 37; also 'commercial/commercialize'), emphasizing breakthroughs, commercialization, and applications (smartphones, remote surgery). BC includes positive references (e.g., 'first' with network/iPhone) but also salient negative collocates to 5G such as 'anti' (e.g., anti-5G groups/protests) and 'linking' (5G–COVID claims), foregrounding controversies and misinformation. Of 18 'linking 5G' instances, 16 negate false claims, yet frequent mention risks amplifying uncertainty. - Social actor: Huawei appears as a central actor and proxy for 5G in both corpora. CC collocates highlight technical role and leadership (e.g., '5G', 'technologies', 'equipment', 'network', and 'giant'), profiling Huawei positively. BC uniquely emphasizes 'decision', 'allow', 'build', 'role' (UK policy shifts) and 'security', 'risk', portraying Huawei as a security and geopolitical issue. Huawei frequency: CC 1,884 vs. BC 2,901 (LL=26.54, p<0.0001; log ratio 0.22), indicating BC overuse and problematization of Huawei. Concordances show UK’s reversal from limited allowance to ban, frequently attributing pressure to the US (scapegoating/argumentation strategies) and constructing China/Huawei as out-group. - Actions around 5G: Both corpora cover downstream applications (smartphones; CC also 'gaming', 'healthcare'; BC 'driverless'). CC additionally foregrounds upstream investment and midstream buildout: 'trillion'/'yuan' collocate with 'investment', 'economic output'; 'networks'/'infrastructure' collocate with 'build', 'construction', 'building'. BC midstream focus includes 'masts' collocating with 'attacks', 'arson', 'attacked', highlighting vandalism tied to conspiracies. CC presents a comprehensive, positive implementation narrative; BC emphasizes controversies and infrastructure attacks. - Timing/COVID-19: CC uniquely emphasizes 2025 with optimistic forecasts (e.g., large 5G user base, economic output, investments, leadership). COVID-19 collocates: CC links 5G to fighting the pandemic (e.g., 'fight', 'telecom'); BC links to conspiracies ('conspiracy', 'claims', 'theories', 'linked'). 'Anti' usage is significantly higher in BC (log ratio 3.34; LL=75.88), indicating greater salience of scepticism and contention. - Discursive strategies: CC uses positive predication for self-representation (trustworthy, beneficial 5G; Huawei as leader). BC employs negative predication and out-grouping (China/Huawei as security risk), perspectivation aligning with UK/US policy positions, and argumentation via 'pressure from the US' to justify UK decisions. - Implications: BC’s frequent negations/warnings about conspiracies, often without actionable guidance, risk counterproductive effects (e.g., Streisand effect), potentially heightening uncertainty. Survey evidence cited indicates 44% of UK consumers (April 2022) did not believe 5G would benefit their lives.

The comparative analysis demonstrates that divergent representations of 5G map onto each country’s socio-political and journalistic contexts. CC’s positive, benefit-centric discourse aligns with China Daily’s role as an official, outward-facing medium and China’s strategic prioritization of 5G commercialization and national techno-economic development. BC’s focus on geopolitics, security risks, and conspiracies reflects the UK’s policy environment, close alignment with US strategic concerns, and news values prioritizing negativity and uncertainty. The findings address the research aim by showing how collocational patterns and discursive strategies (predication, argumentation/scapegoating, perspectivation) operationalize a 'self–other' schema: CC constructs a positive national self and depoliticized 5G, while BC constructs China/Huawei as out-group and situates the UK within US–China rivalry. These representations have societal relevance: politicized and controversy-focused coverage may undermine public acceptance of 5G and impede realizing its benefits; conversely, balanced, context-rich reporting may support informed public understanding of technology.

This study contributes a cross-country, corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis that (i) inductively identifies four themes structuring 5G press discourse, (ii) reveals contrasting evaluative framings and discursive strategies in Chinese and British media, and (iii) links linguistic patterns to broader socio-political contexts, especially geopolitics and national identity construction. Methodologically, it demonstrates the utility of integrating CADS with DHA to surface salient themes (including actions and timing) and to interpret collocational evidence within historical-political contexts. Practically, the study offers guidance for media reporting of science/technology: broaden topical scope to present both benefits and risks; when countering misinformation, provide clear, actionable recommendations rather than only warnings/negations; and be mindful of framing effects and ideological biases that can affect public attitudes and economic outcomes.

Space constraints prevented detailed examination of all keywords within each theme. Additionally, for collocate extraction, the token '5G' was replaced with 'FiveG' to ensure software recognition, which is a processing workaround noted by the authors.