From zero-COVID to global alignment: transnational pressures and China's pandemic communication transformation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Public health crises are governed not only through policies but also through talk. Government press conferences are ritualized arenas where authorities construct meaning, claim competence, and manage domestic and international legitimacy. China's abrupt transition from "zero‑COVID" to a strategy of coexistence provides a critical case for examining how transnational pressures-from the World Health Organization, diplomatic partners, markets, and global media-shape official communication over time.

Main body

This study analyzes 154 central government press‑conference transcripts (February 2020-February 2023) using a mixed‑methods design that combines topic modeling with qualitative frame analysis and process tracing of international pressure events. We segment the p

SUBMITTER: Liu D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12584499 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature