8 The Role of Science and Technology in UK Narratives about China: The Case of Synthetic Biology
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Magnus Feldmann
Abstract
This chapter analyses British media narratives about Chinese synthetic biology, a cutting-edge field of science focused on redesigning living organisms with applications in the development of new medicines or chemicals and in agriculture. Synthetic biology is an area that has acquired great significance in Chinese policy making and attracted attention in global debates about China, not least given its centrality for the strategy for bioeconomy development and considerable public investment it has received. The chapter explores the coverage of Chinese synthetic biology in leading British media outlets, and it identifies three sets of dominant media narratives related to benefits and opportunities, risks and threats, and ethics. The chapter situates these findings in relation to key debates in International Relations and Science and Technology Studies. It shows how the coverage of synthetic biology is bound up with wider debates and controversies surrounding the rise of China and the role of emerging technologies.
Abstract
This chapter analyses British media narratives about Chinese synthetic biology, a cutting-edge field of science focused on redesigning living organisms with applications in the development of new medicines or chemicals and in agriculture. Synthetic biology is an area that has acquired great significance in Chinese policy making and attracted attention in global debates about China, not least given its centrality for the strategy for bioeconomy development and considerable public investment it has received. The chapter explores the coverage of Chinese synthetic biology in leading British media outlets, and it identifies three sets of dominant media narratives related to benefits and opportunities, risks and threats, and ethics. The chapter situates these findings in relation to key debates in International Relations and Science and Technology Studies. It shows how the coverage of synthetic biology is bound up with wider debates and controversies surrounding the rise of China and the role of emerging technologies.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of Figures and Tables vii
- Notes on Contributors ix
- Preface xii
- Introduction: Narrative and Europe–China Relations 1
- The Return of Security: Shifting Perceptions of the State(craft) in UK–China Relations 17
- Clashing Narratives over Italy’s Adhesion to the Belt and Road Initiative: A Critical Discourse Analysis Approach 36
- The ‘Iron Friendship’ and the ‘Long and Winding Road’: Narrating Sino-Serbian Relations on the Borders of the EU 57
- The Unicorn, the Dragon and the Storytellers: Comparing Praxes of Narrating China in EU Foreign Policy 75
- China, Europe and Dual Circulation: Emerging Narratives of China’s New Economic Model 93
- The Politics of Human Rights between China and the EU 113
- The Narratives of Counterterrorism and the Prospects of EU–China Security Cooperation 132
- The Role of Science and Technology in UK Narratives about China: The Case of Synthetic Biology 154
- From Academic Partner to ‘Academic Threat’: German and UK Media Framing of European–Chinese Academic Cooperation since Xi Jinping Came to Power 173
- Exploring the Limits of Soft Power: Sentiments and Narratives on China in Turkish Social Media and Political Speeches of Elites 199
- Chosen Traumas: China’s Everlasting Century of Humiliation and Sino-European Relations 225
- The Weight of History: Competing Narratives in the Context of a Rising China 244
- Conclusion: Narratives and China–Europe Relations 264
- Index 273
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of Figures and Tables vii
- Notes on Contributors ix
- Preface xii
- Introduction: Narrative and Europe–China Relations 1
- The Return of Security: Shifting Perceptions of the State(craft) in UK–China Relations 17
- Clashing Narratives over Italy’s Adhesion to the Belt and Road Initiative: A Critical Discourse Analysis Approach 36
- The ‘Iron Friendship’ and the ‘Long and Winding Road’: Narrating Sino-Serbian Relations on the Borders of the EU 57
- The Unicorn, the Dragon and the Storytellers: Comparing Praxes of Narrating China in EU Foreign Policy 75
- China, Europe and Dual Circulation: Emerging Narratives of China’s New Economic Model 93
- The Politics of Human Rights between China and the EU 113
- The Narratives of Counterterrorism and the Prospects of EU–China Security Cooperation 132
- The Role of Science and Technology in UK Narratives about China: The Case of Synthetic Biology 154
- From Academic Partner to ‘Academic Threat’: German and UK Media Framing of European–Chinese Academic Cooperation since Xi Jinping Came to Power 173
- Exploring the Limits of Soft Power: Sentiments and Narratives on China in Turkish Social Media and Political Speeches of Elites 199
- Chosen Traumas: China’s Everlasting Century of Humiliation and Sino-European Relations 225
- The Weight of History: Competing Narratives in the Context of a Rising China 244
- Conclusion: Narratives and China–Europe Relations 264
- Index 273
