The dispute regarding the South China sea is long standing. The Republic of China claims a

majority of the area in question and has drawn up the “nine dash line” to display, what

regarding to them is historically and rightfully theirs. 2013 the Philippines accused the

Republic of China to have encroached on their maritime territory and brought the case to the

international court in Hague. In 2016 the result of the arbitration was decided and it stated that

China had in fact encroached on the Philippines’ territory. This thesis aims to analyze the

rhetoric in the state-run newspaper People’s Daily. The time span of the analysis lies in the

same month as the outcome of the arbitration was settled, July in 2016.

The result of this study shows that a harsh rhetoric is used in the newspaper to advocate for the

South China sea belonging to the Republic of China (according to the “nine dash line”) as well

as condemning other parties in the dispute, mainly the Philippines and the USA.