Table 6.

Topos used to construct a negative “other”

Topoi	Claim	Examples (Chinese corpus) Translated by the authors	Examples (English corpus)
Threat	Actions taken by the United States threaten the global community.	“What the US has done seriously damages the rights of its people, hinders the international community’s joint efforts to fight the epidemic, and threatens the overall public health and safety situation” (Xinhua Daily News, 1 May 2020)	“Even as the US and the world face a worsening pandemic, some Washington elites are still seeking to intensify the confrontation between China and the US” (China Daily, 30 March 2020)
Uselessness/disadvantage	Western countries are in a serious situation and their responses to the pandemic have been slow and ineffective.	“Since the beginning of March, the new coronary pneumonia epidemic has swept across Europe and has had a disastrous impact on most countries”(People’s Daily, 26 April 2020)	The US government reacted too slowly to contain the COVID-19 pandemic as the virus was spreading from Europe, which led to the surge of infections and deaths in the country, a top official at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said (Beijing Review, May 4, 2020)
Irresponsibility	The United States and some European countries should take more responsibility in fighting the virus, and their incompetence should be blamed.	“Experts and media from many countries have recently pointed out that the Trump administration’s ineffective response has caused the United States to become the most serious country in the world’s new crown epidemic.” (Xinhua Daily News, 1 May 2020)	“the incompetence of the governments of the US and some European countries is to blame for the high numbers of positive cases and deaths there” (China Daily, 9 May 2020)
Illegality	According to the Chinese media, the West’s demonization of China is at odds with international law.	“In accordance with international law, emergencies and other public health emergencies are legally force majeure. The absurd dramas performed by some politicians in the United States will not help control the epidemic and reduce deaths.” (Xinhua Daily News, 5 May 2020)	“Yet the claims of US politicians that China should take the responsibility for the pandemic are untenable in law” (China Daily, 22 April 2020)