Xiao Huanyuan and Meng Xiaorui: An Analysis of Discourse Narrative in the International Communication of Modernization Featuring Harmony Between Humanity and Nature
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), as China's comprehensive national strength and international influence have grown significantly, the Chinese experience and Chinese stories have become a focal point of intense international attention. This has placed higher demands on China to construct and refine a system of foreign discourse and strategic communication with Chinese characteristics. As a vital dimension of China’s foreign communication, Chinese-path modernization of harmony between humanity and nature is not only a high-level generalization and refinement of the essential characteristics of Chinese-path modernization within the ecological realm; it is also a manifestation of Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions offered to the world for the green transformation and sustainable development of modernization. It serves as a "green discourse hallmark" of China's international image as a "responsible major power." Elevating the level of foreign communication regarding the ecological discourse of Chinese-path modernization is a strategic choice for enhancing China's green discourse power [1] and influence, requiring diversified methods to promote the innovation of ecological discourse. Xi Jinping has proposed to "accelerate the construction of a Chinese discourse and narrative system, tell China's stories well, make China's voice heard, and present an image of a China that is credible, lovable, and respectable." Amidst profound changes in the global communication landscape and the public opinion ecosystem [2], narratives can utilize the "soft" power of culture to translate the ecological theories and policy propositions of Chinese-path modernization into symbolic elements laden with audiovisual rhetorical color. This helps bridge the heterogeneous divides between nation-states while promoting the implicit dissemination of ecological values and practical experiences. It is of great significance for improving the external environment for China’s green and peaceful rise, dispelling Western misunderstandings of the ecological outlook of Chinese-path modernization, and contributing Chinese wisdom to global ecological governance.
I. The Context of the Emergence of Foreign Communication Discourse Narratives for Chinese-path Modernization of Harmony Between Humanity and Nature
The unique significance of the foreign communication discourse narratives of Chinese-path modernization of harmony between humanity and nature is reflected in how Chinese-path modernization of harmony between humanity and nature can serve as the cornerstone for constructing a Chinese green discourse and narrative system under the hegemony of Western green discourse. In today's complex and volatile international discourse field, constructing these narratives faces new multidimensional contextual changes, which bring both new challenges and new opportunities for its journey toward the world.
(1) The innovation of ecological discourse for Chinese-path modernization urgently needs to expand its global dimension
As an expression of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization within the context of modernization discourse, Chinese-path modernization of harmony between humanity and nature takes a community with a shared future for humanity as its value guidance. It resolves the difficult problem of how to handle the relationship between environmental protection and economic development in the process of world modernization. This means that the construction of ecological civilization within Chinese-path modernization and its achievements must necessarily be integrated into the process of human civilization, showcasing the theoretical wisdom and universal value of China's ecological civilization construction in the New Era. In May 2016, the second United Nations Environment Assembly released the report Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains are Invaluable Assets: China's Ecological Civilization Strategy and Action, which highly affirmed China's green development concepts and its practices in ecological civilization construction. Achim Steiner, then Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, stated that "China's construction of ecological civilization is a beneficial exploration and concrete practice of the concept of sustainable development, providing a reference for other countries to deal with similar economic, environmental, and social challenges." China's concept of ecological civilization has gradually moved toward the world stage. However, influenced by various factors, many mainstream Western media outlets and academic circles still maintain a skeptical or even negative attitude toward China's ecological civilization construction. Some scholars narrowly view ecological civilization as a propaganda slogan of the Chinese government, arguing that China's series of green development initiatives are nothing more than "Potemkin environmentalism." To a certain extent, the discourse of green development in Chinese-path modernization still suffers from "aphasia" or being "voiceless," facing the task of constructing a Chinese discourse and narrative of ecological civilization within the meaningful space of the world's green modernization transition. On the one hand, the role of China's independent knowledge system of philosophy and social sciences in providing theoretical support for narrating the ecological outlook of Chinese-path modernization using Chinese discourse has not yet been fully realized. There is an urgent need to use new concepts, new categories, and new expressions to summarize and refine ecological discourse with more Chinese characteristics, providing discourse support for promoting Chinese-path modernization of harmony between humanity and nature on the basis of continuously constructing and flourishing China's independent knowledge system. On the other hand, the international communication of Chinese-path modernization of harmony between humanity and nature cannot be viewed merely as a purely theoretical, "hard output" of information carriers such as the values and concepts of China's ecological civilization. Instead, it requires a "soft narrative" that blends reason with emotion, based on a full weighing of the intentions of foreign communication and the differences in culture and context between nations. Therefore, there is an urgent need to strengthen the innovation of ecological discourse for Chinese-path modernization, using narrative discourse with greater formative power and appeal to enhance theoretical cognition and emotional resonance, thereby promoting Chinese-path modernization of harmony between humanity and nature to the world.
(2) The ecological discourse of Chinese-path modernization urgently needs to break through Western ecological discourse traps
With the continuous increase in comprehensive national strength, China's influence in the field of global environmental governance is growing daily, driving the global environmental governance landscape toward a more balanced direction. In this context, Western countries have shown obvious anxiety and wariness toward China's rise in global environmental governance. To maintain their global "green hegemony," they use a Western-centric narrative logic to conduct "nested" interpretations of the ecological discourse of Chinese-path modernization, giving rise to many false "Chinese ecological narratives." First is the promotion of the "China ecological threat theory" to "praise-kill" [3] China. To contain China's modernization process, the West labels China as an "energy-hungry country" and a "major carbon emitter," establishing a symbolic connection between the topic of "Chinese-path modernization" and "China's ecological crisis," attempting to solidify China's role as a "challenger" and "threat" under the global ecological crisis. The West also vilifies China's ecological diplomatic actions as Neo-Imperialist global colonial plunder. Centered on the Green Belt and Road cooperation projects, they concoct nationalist rhetoric such as the "economic resource plunder theory" and the "carbon pollution diffusion theory," accusing China's Belt and Road projects of "outsourcing pollution to other countries," attempting to offset the impact of China's international green cooperation initiatives on their hegemonic cooperation systems. Second is the promotion of the "China climate responsibility theory" to "praise-kill" China. On the surface, this rhetoric affirms China's development achievements, but in essence, it directly characterizes China as the "responsible party," accusing China's achievements of being at the cost of plundering global natural resources and environmental pollution. It exploits the cognitive bias regarding the "principle of common but differentiated responsibilities" to manipulate public opinion, demanding that China bear more unrealistic governance responsibilities. This is one of the public opinion tools the West uses to make China "pay the bill" for the global climate crisis while covering up the truth of its own evasion of "carbon responsibility." Third is the fabrication of the "China environmental authoritarianism theory" to slander China. Western countries have constructed a discourse narrative of China’s "environmental authoritarianism," accusing China's ecological civilization construction of adopting so-called top-down environmental governance measures as a challenge to the new model of liberal environmentalism, implying a denial of and prejudice against the socialist attributes of China’s ecological civilization construction. Facing the constant stream of Western ecological discourse traps, we must persist in both "breaking and establishing" [4]. While using Chinese narrative logic to deconstruct Western narrative frameworks, we must build an ecological discourse and narrative system rooted in local realities and based on China, breaking through the discourse packaging and offensives of Western narratives.
(3) The failure of Western ecological modernization discourse calls for the emergence of new narrative discourses
In the 1980s, facing the intensifying global ecological and environmental crisis, ecologist scholars represented by Martin Jänicke and Albert Weale in the United States and Joseph Huber in Germany, through theoretical reflection on traditional environmental political discourse that viewed environmental protection and economic development as incompatible, successively proposed ecological modernization theory with green transformation as its core consciousness. It became one of the many strategies of the Western green movement and Green Party [5] politics. As a "light green" ecological trend of thought, Western ecological modernization advocates that ecological and environmental problems can rely on policy-driven technological innovation and market mechanisms to promote the improvement of industrial production efficiency and the transformation and upgrading of economic development models, thereby achieving the goal of benign operation between environmental protection and economic development. However, judging from the theory itself and the reality of worsening global ecological problems, this theory has not achieved a scientific construction of its own, nor has it exerted its intended theoretical efficacy. Western ecological modernization attempts to resort to the green innovation and ecological application of science and technology within the existing social power structure and economic operation logic to solve environmental problems. But in fact, the "growth mania" pathology of Western modernization has caused technological innovation not to slow down the consumption of natural resources, but rather to accelerate ecological destruction. Furthermore, Western ecological modernization advocates extending market principles to the ecological field, solving ecological crises by stimulating and regulating green markets. Although it notices the intervention value of macro-level planning at the state level on the free market, "many people believe more in the neoliberal creed that regulation increases costs and reduces efficiency," resulting in the intervention value of environmental regulation under the conditions of a capitalist market economy appearing negligible. The logic of "the ecologization of capital" [6], which uses market response mechanisms to create ecological benefits, is highly one-sided; it often "selects those natural ecological resource areas that can operate through market mechanisms and bring benefits to capital for 'greening'." In essence, it remains socially unjust and anti-ecological. For example, the "Green New Deal" vigorously implemented by the United States is the result of its sensing high profits in the green economy field and adjusting its mode of valorization [7]. "The more successful the green economic growth, the more carbon dioxide emissions it generates," eventually falling into the "economic growth trap." It can be seen that Western ecological modernization is essentially a stage-based change or local transformation of contemporary capitalist society. It is immersed in the temporary or local results brought about by the renovation of explicit elements such as technology, markets, or economic operational supervision, while avoiding the most fundamental structural contradictions. Ultimately, it degenerates into a technique for defending capitalist modernization, unable to break its own inherent contradictions, much less provide a useful reference for the modernization of other countries and regions. To a certain extent, this calls for the emergence of a new narrative discourse of ecological modernization.
II. The Operating Mechanism of Foreign Communication Discourse Narratives for Chinese-path Modernization of Harmony Between Humanity and Nature
General discourse narrative practice includes basic elements such as narrative discourse, narrative text, narrative subjects, and narrative audiences. It follows the logical mechanism of discourse production, text shaping, and content projection to form a dynamic narrative expression system. The foreign communication discourse narrative of Chinese-path modernization of harmony between humanity and nature is based on the great practice of Chinese-path modernization. Focusing on the practical problems facing China and the world, it constructs symbolic concepts and theoretical categories rich in Chinese characteristics. Through specific narrative rhetorical strategies, it narrates the theoretical meaning, practical experience, and future vision of the ecological outlook of Chinese-path modernization, aiming to enhance the international community's cognitive identification with China's ecological civilization construction.
(1) Discourse Production: Symbolic Concepts of the Narrative of Chinese-path Modernization of Harmony Between Humanity and Nature
Discourse is the raw material of narrative, the static module for constructing narrative. The core of discourse and narrative systems are basic concepts and ideas. The process of producing narrative discourse is essentially the process of inventing and recreating "hallmark concepts" (标识性概念). This "is not only reflected in the exploration of the connotation of concepts, but also emphasizes the discovery and reconstruction of the links and synergistic effects between concepts in a rhetorical sense." As a systematic and scientific theoretical discourse system, Chinese-path modernization of harmony between humanity and nature relies on a whole system of concepts based on core conceptual terms—such as the ecological view of nature, ecological values, the view of ecological democracy, the view of ecological governance, and the view of ecological responsibility—and several mutually supporting conceptual units. Core concepts in the ecological view of nature emphasize how to define the relationship between humanity and nature in an ontological sense, specifically reflected in...
In conceptual terminology such as a "community of life for man and nature" and a "community of all life on Earth," the appeal to the symbolic concept of "community"—which possesses a broad cognitive foundation—allows for a comprehensive and profound examination of the relations between man and nature, and among human beings themselves, from the perspective of ecological holism. This avoids the extremist tendencies in the perception of the man-nature relationship found in either ecocentrism or anthropocentrism. Regarding ecological values, core concepts involve multi-dimensional considerations of the inherent value and significance of nature itself. The most representative symbolic concept is "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" [8]. Through the symbolic imagery of "invaluable assets," it provides a concrete metaphorical representation of the multi-layered value of "lucid waters and lush mountains," projecting the dual attributes of natural ecological wealth and economic-social wealth inherent in a sound ecological environment. Corresponding associated terms also include a series of concepts or markers such as the "ecological civilization economy" and "new quality productive forces." Regarding ecological democracy, core concepts emphasize the unity of ecological civilization and democratic politics. Revolving around the core meaning that ecological civilization is a cause "jointly participated in, jointly built, and jointly shared" by all people, a set of conceptual categories and propositions has formed, including "persisting in making ecology benefit the people," "the most universal wellbeing for the people's livelihood," "the fairest public product," "persisting in all-of-society action to build a Beautiful China," and "ecological revitalization." Regarding the view of ecological governance, core concepts are the linguistic expressions of ecological protection and governance activities. "Persisting in the integrated protection and systematic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts" [9] constitutes the foundational conceptual category, with associated concepts including "holistic protection, comprehensive governance, and systematic restoration" and the "institutional system for ecological civilization," which together constitute the "action plan" for carrying out ecological civilization construction. Finally, the view of ecological responsibility focuses on the reconstruction and shaping of responsibility for addressing global climate change and governance. This has formed "global ecological civilization construction" as an overarching conceptual term, linked with core concepts such as "extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits," a "clean and beautiful world," and "climate responsibility," as well as associated concepts like the "Green Belt and Road," the "Paris Agreement," and "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality." These landmark discourses demonstrate powerful ripples of truth and practical strength, representing the conceptualized expression of China's positions and policies in addressing global sustainable development challenges and ecological governance dilemmas.
(2) Textual Shaping: The Dramatic Structure of the Narrative of Modernization of Harmony Between Man and Nature
Dramatic structure is the internal logical mechanism of a narrative text's presentation. It "determines how elements such as characters, events, settings, and motivations interact, and how these elements together constitute the plot." It is the structure used to bridge the Dao (principles) behind the discourse with the story world and causal relationships. The modernization of harmony between man and nature integrates the China story into an international context, narrating a story of how the Communist Party of China, focusing on the "question of the century"—"what is wrong with the world, and what should we do?"—provides a Chinese solution with the responsibility and commitment of a responsible major power to crack the global sustainable development puzzle and governance dilemma.
First is the Setting: the increasing prominence of the ecological crisis and the urgency of global environmental governance. The setting constructs the scene and environment in which the story takes place; describing the narrative setting from different perspectives often conveys different meanings. The setting for the narrative of the modernization of harmony between man and nature is a reflection of China's objective perception of the current global ecological problems and the state of governance based on a global vision. Currently, the world is in the midst of multiple planetary crises, including climate change, the loss of nature and biodiversity, and pollution and waste, which seriously threaten human survival and development. To solve this problem, the international community has made active efforts and attempts, and global environmental protection and pollution control have achieved certain results, but the trend of global ecological degradation has not been completely halted. In October 2024, the "Emissions Gap Report 2024" released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) pointed out that if the ambition of the new round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) is not increased and implementation begun immediately, global temperatures will rise by 2.6–3.1°C within the 21st century. This would have devastating impacts on people, the planet, and economies. This serves as a serious warning to the international community to actively respond to global climate change and strengthen ecological governance. Xi Jinping pointed out: "In the face of ecological challenges, humanity is a community of shared future where all prosper or suffer together; no country can stay immune." However, the West still follows an imperialist governance paradigm. To maintain global "green hegemony" and alleviate its own ecological and resource anxieties, Western countries, on one hand, rely on their economic and technological advantages and their monopoly over discourse interpretation to deal with the tension between development and resources through the imperialist monopoly of global ecological and energy resources. They engage in "spatial fixes" [10] to alleviate their own ecological crises by exporting capital and transferring pollution to developing countries, resulting in the global spread of the ecological crisis. When facing ecological governance issues, they often adopt a passive and evasive attitude, constantly creating "discourse traps" to shirk governance responsibilities and making unreasonable demands that developing countries shoulder unfair environmental protection burdens, which seriously hinders collective action in global ecological governance. On the other hand, leveraging their dominant position in international trade and technological advantages, they vigorously engage in unilateralism and protectionism that work against globalization in ecological governance, constructing exclusive green technical and trade barriers. Through "building walls and barriers" and "decoupling and severing chains" under the guise of ideological struggle, they seek to regulate and contain the green development and low-carbon transformation of developing countries, squeezing the space for multilateral cooperation in global climate governance, leaving global ecological governance trapped in a "collective action dilemma." The increasing prominence of the ecological crisis and the urgency of global environmental governance require all countries in the world to act urgently, persist in taking the path of modernization characterized by harmony between man and nature, and promote the construction of a clean and beautiful world.
Second is the Character: an important participant, contributor, and leader in global ecological civilization construction. "Character building is the narrator’s setting of an actor’s identity, status, value orientation, and goals within a specific context, often presented in the form of an identity narrative," and is constructed through the process of interaction and maneuvering with others. China, as the narrator, based on its understanding of its constructive role on the stage of world environmental diplomacy, positions itself as an "important participant, contributor, and leader in global ecological civilization construction." "Participant" emphasizes the change in China's attitude and position in global environmental governance. Since participating in the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in the 1970s, China has always actively participated in the global climate governance process. With the enhancement of China’s comprehensive national strength and its increasing contribution to global climate governance, China has achieved a role advancement from adaptive participation to constructive participation. In the future, China will continue to play the role of a responsible major power, participating in global climate governance agenda-setting and governance practices with a more proactive stance. "Contributor" emphasizes that China provides visible, tangible, and effective ecological public products for global environmental governance. For a long time, China has upheld the concept of "teaching a man how to fish," providing support for many developing countries to respond to climate change by building low-carbon demonstration zones, carrying out mitigation and adaptation projects, and organizing capacity-building exchange workshops. As of November 2024, China has signed 54 Memoranda of Understanding on South-South cooperation for addressing climate change with 42 developing countries, contributing Chinese strength to global climate governance. At the same time, China has contributed Chinese wisdom and strength in fields such as global desertification governance, marine environmental protection, and global ozone layer protection. "Leader" emphasizes the world-wide influence of China's ecological governance concepts and practices. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, China has played an important guiding and coordinating role in challenging negotiation topics such as the maintenance of multilateral environmental relations, equity issues regarding material and ecological wellbeing brought by green sustainable development, and the exchange and shift in green low-carbon technologies. Especially in terms of global biodiversity protection, China established the Kunming Biodiversity Fund, promoted the achievement of the "Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework," and established trans-border natural reserves and ecological corridors with countries like Russia—milestone achievements that lead global biodiversity protection onto a path of recovery. Philip Clayton, President of the Institute for Postmodern Development of China in the United States, stated: "China is a leader in global ecological civilization construction, and many of its practices are worth learning from for other countries." China always persists in actively participating in and promoting global environmental governance, achieving a major transformation from a participant to a leader, demonstrating the responsibility and commitment of a responsible major power.
Third is the Plot: reconstructing a comedic plot of global ecological justice. The plot is the container for narrative events, characters, and causal relationships; it is a re-interpretation of the development process and the external image of the referent. The plot structures of discourse narratives can be categorized into romance, satire, comedy, and tragedy, among which the fundamental characteristic of a comedic plot lies in a progressive developmental trend and outcome. The narrative of the modernization of harmony between man and nature highlights the characteristics of a comedy plot, emphasizing that the ecological view of Chinese-path modernization is a new value paradigm and modality for humanity’s move from ecological injustice to ecological justice. First, the modernization of harmony between man and nature points toward interspecies justice that maintains the integrity of the community of life for man and nature. The realization of ecological interspecies justice cannot resort to "wilderness" imaginings that restrict human activity; its core remains focused on the issue of economic and social development modes. The modernization of harmony between man and nature rejects development modes that come at the cost of the ecological environment, persists in planning development from the height of harmony between man and nature, empowers the green and low-carbon transformation of production modes through scientific and technological innovation, and has formed production and lifestyles compatible with protecting the ecological environment. Second, the modernization of harmony between man and nature points toward the realization of intragenerational justice among all members of society regarding the enjoyment of ecological rights and the distribution of ecological governance rights and responsibilities. Compared to the narrow class interests and the one-dimensional thinking of Western-centrism in Western modernization, the modernization of harmony between man and nature firmly maintains the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people, treating a sound ecological environment as the most universal wellbeing for the people's livelihood and the most extensive public product to meet the people's needs for a beautiful environment. It continuously establishes and improves the institutional system for ecological civilization, promoting the fair distribution of ecological rights and responsibilities among all members of society. It also points toward global ecological justice that transcends national borders and races. China actively promotes the joint construction of the "Green Belt and Road," extensively carries out green and low-carbon international cooperation, and shares green technologies, experiences, and resources, promoting the increase and sharing of material and ecological wellbeing among different nation-states. China resolutely opposes the politicization of ecological issues and the acts of "ecological imperialism" used to contain the development of other countries. It advocates for global ecological governance based on the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities," reasonably coordinating the responsibilities and obligations of developed and developing countries in ecological governance, and continuously promoting the development of the global ecological governance system toward a more just and reasonable direction. Third, the modernization of harmony between man and nature points toward the realization of intergenerational justice for the sustainable development of human society. In the short term, the value pursuit of the modernization of harmony between man and nature is to provide a beautiful ecological environment to meet the needs of contemporary people for a better life; in the long term, it seeks to realize the sustainability of production and development through the rational use and effective protection of ecological resources, "both increasing the wellbeing of the contemporary generation and safeguarding the rights and interests of future generations," ensuring the fair right to resources across different generations.
(3) Narrative Projection: The Communication Matrix of the Narrative of Modernization of Harmony Between Man and Nature
Narrative projection refers to the process in which, after the narrative text is generated, it achieves effective dissemination in the international community, thereby acting upon the thoughts and concepts of the audience. Currently, revolving around the discourse topics of the modernization of harmony between man and nature, a multi-dimensional discourse communication matrix has been formed, dominated by official narratives with the participation of diverse non-governmental actors. Official narratives mainly refer to the telling of the China story by state leaders through speeches, home-field diplomacy, official media, and international forums as the primary narrative subjects. Leaders' climate diplomacy is an important channel for telling China's ecological story. Xi Jinping has expounded China's climate governance propositions on many important international occasions, such as the UN General Assembly, climate change conferences, and biodiversity summits, advocating for the international community to work together to build a clean and beautiful world, which has gained widespread recognition and positive responses from the international community. International exchange and cooperation platforms hosted or co-hosted by China for the international community, such as...
The "Belt and Road" International Green Development Coalition, the Eco Forum Global Guiyang, and other platforms, including intergovernmental international organizations and regional development aid financial institutions, have all become important discourse platforms for the international communication of China’s ecological civilization values. In October 2023, at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, Xi Jinping announced that China would continue to deepen cooperation in fields such as green infrastructure, green energy, and green transportation. Together with relevant participants, China released the "Belt and Road" Green Development Beijing Initiative, demonstrating China’s ecological civilization concepts and actions to the international community. Furthermore, official media outlets such as the People’s Daily (Overseas Edition), China Daily, and Global Times (English edition) have allowed the world to see a "Green China" dedicated to achieving the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature through comprehensive and continuous reporting on China’s ecological governance process.
Non-governmental narratives serve as an important supplement to official narratives. This primarily refers to subjects such as social organizations, academic organizations, think tanks, and enterprises telling China's story [11] to the international public from diverse perspectives. Discourse and international communication practices from non-governmental sources often create a more approachable effect through individual micro-narratives and communication methods that are flexible, diverse, and close to the people’s hearts. This makes the ecological discourse of Chinese-path modernization more relatable, respectable, and credible. For example, the Global Environmental Institute (GEI), a Chinese NGO, works with policymakers, entrepreneurs, scientists, civil society leaders, and local communities to advance projects in biodiversity conservation, green finance, and sustainable investment in regions including China, Southeast Asia, and South Africa. By actively exploring the diffusion of local biodiversity conservation and environmental governance practices, as well as promoting eco-service-oriented economic development models, GEI is a direct manifestation of Chinese non-governmental forces transmitting the concept of harmony between humanity and nature. Additionally, academic exchange activities centered on Chinese ecological civilization issues carried out by international scientific research institutions and think-tank platforms have become an important window for telling China's story due to their professional and authoritative discourse style.
III. Optimization Strategies for the International Communication Discourse Narrative of the Modernization of Harmony Between Humanity and Nature
The discourse narrative of the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature is an organic integrated semiotic system of knowledge, theory, and logical maps. Built upon the practice of Chinese-path modernization, it interprets the internal logic and developmental laws of the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature. Constructing this discourse narrative system in the New Era requires joint efforts in framework construction, content innovation, and the enhancement of communication effectiveness. This will simultaneously increase China’s green discourse power [12] and promote global ecological civilization construction.
(1) Constructing a discourse framework supported by China’s independent knowledge system
The so-called "framework" refers to "a relatively stable mental structure for understanding things that is artificially constructed and organized." It is an interpretive system for understanding the ideological core and value cognition behind narrative discourse. To break free from the shackles of Western discourse research paradigms and knowledge frameworks, China should accelerate the construction of a discourse framework supported by an independent knowledge system. It must consciously and proactively endow green issues with a new interpretive framework and meaning system. This ensures that audiences perceive and understand the theoretical explanations and practical guidance value of China’s ecological civilization construction through preset channels of meaning, thereby enhancing the persuasiveness of the narrative discourse of the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature.
First, construct a discourse framework of mutual learning and exchange. As a new terminological and theoretical form, the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature was formed through cultural exchange while maintaining the subjectivity of Chinese civilization. The construction and communication of its narrative discourse must emphasize "dialogic" qualities. China should participate in global green development discourse exchanges in all aspects with an equal footing, telling "green stories" through the dual logic of "the world in China's vision" and "China in the global context." This avoids falling into the "centrist" narrative trap of one-dimensional output.
Second, construct a discourse framework of peaceful development. The modernization of harmony between humanity and nature embodies the value concept of "harmony among all nations" [13] (xiéhé wànbāng) upheld by the Chinese nation since ancient times. In international communication, we must highlight the logic of peaceful development unfolded by the ecological outlook of Chinese-path modernization. We should narrate how the Communist Party of China (CPC) has incorporated the concept of a community of life on Earth into the modernization of the path of peaceful development; how it promotes global green development and ecological civilization construction with a vision of "caring for all under heaven" [14]; and how it leads global environmental governance away from the old logic of unilateralism, "both developing itself by maintaining world peace and maintaining world peace through its own development."
Third, construct a discourse framework of win-win cooperation. The existing global environmental governance discourse system dominated by Western countries exhibits a narrative logic of confrontation between the ideological "Self" and "Other." Its purpose is to maximize self-interest through competition and conflict, which results in imbalanced global economic development and an intensified ecological crisis. The practice of the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature points toward a path of win-win cooperation for building a community with a shared future for humanity, embodying China’s narrative logic of "welcoming others to hitch a ride." In international communication, we must start from a "we" mindset, clearly explaining that the ecological crisis is a challenge shared by the entire world. By telling the story of a community with a shared future for humanity, we can more fully demonstrate the mutual benefits and pragmatic results of cooperation between China and other countries in global green development and ecological governance.
(2) Creating discourse narrative texts that integrate Chinese development with human progress
On the basis of constructing a discourse framework with Chinese logic and style, efforts must also be made to create narrative texts that integrate Chinese development with human progress. These should focus on the intersection of international audiences' ecological interests and points of interest. Using "small-scale" stories that are easy for audiences to understand and accept, these texts can reflect "grand narratives" such as the value concepts, path models, and world significance of the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature. Through innovative narrative content, the intellectual and spiritual power of this modernization can be better manifested.
On one hand, we must tell the story of how the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature provides new assistance for humanity's exploration of the path to ecological modernization. Although this modernization is a theoretical crystallization based on Chinese practice, summarized from Chinese experience, and elucidated through Chinese wisdom, achieving a green transition in modernization is an inevitable trend for global development. Therefore, the key to bringing this modernization to the world lies in discovering focal points of shared ecological concern between China and other countries and conducting narrative discourse based on these commonalities. For instance, we should narrate how this modernization has broken free from the control of Western modernization logic to independently explore an ecological modernization path suited to its own national conditions; how it has leaped beyond the old Western path of "polluting first, treating later" to achieve the synergistic advancement of modernization and ecological civilization; and how it has broken the ecological inequality and wealth gap caused by Western capital-centered modernization. By emphasizing a distinct people-centered value orientation and a concern for humanity, China can promote common prosperity and global ecological civilization, thereby enhancing the attraction and appeal of its ecological discourse.
On the other hand, we must tell the story of how the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature provides new opportunities for global green development. Xi Jinping pointed out: "The fact that our country's developmental achievements are so great, its developmental momentum so good, and that our country has done so many good things in the world is our greatest asset in doing a good job in guiding international public opinion." The most appealing stories in the international discourse field are those about how our country overcomes difficulties to solve its own problems and how it practices the responsibility of a major power to make global contributions. Narrative materials should be fully excavated to show how Chinese development benefits all countries. For example, the "Green Belt and Road" takes inclusive development as its core concept, creating historical opportunities for green and low-carbon development in participating countries. We should use diverse, concrete, and vivid language to create high-quality ecological civilization narratives that resonate with the masses, ensuring that "Belt and Road" stories about benefiting people's livelihoods in green infrastructure, energy, and transportation truly enter the hearts of the audience. This will trigger universal concern and emotional resonance while enhancing international identification with China's ecological modernization.
(3) Enhancing the communication effectiveness of the narrative discourse of the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature
To overcome the problem of the ecological discourse of Chinese-path modernization being "aphasic" or "voiceless" on the international stage, we must enhance the effectiveness of international communication and heighten the international influence of this discourse. First, adopt diverse narrative techniques. A major reason for the distortion of China's ecological discourse is the language barrier and cognitive differences between the sender and receiver of information. Therefore, based on the cultural contexts and linguistic forms of different countries and regions, we must employ flexible and diverse narrative strategies to bridge the cognitive gap between abstract concepts and the audience's way of thinking. We must proactively adjust and reconstruct discourse content, using rhetorical practices such as framing and metaphors to concretize abstract concepts through symbolic imagery that has a broad cognitive basis. For example, the phrase "leaving a production and living environment of blue skies, green land, and clear water for future generations" constructs an ethical relationship based on the imagery of "future generations," highlighting the ecological responsibility shared between humanity today and the subjects of future society. We must also adapt to the trends of visualized and mobile information dissemination, comprehensively using multi-modal resources such as images, videos, audio, animations, and H5 pages to provide a visual expression of the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature.
Second, aggregate the strength of diverse subjects. We should combine the "main theme" represented by official institutions like the government and mainstream media with the "multi-part chorus" represented by unofficial subjects such as think tanks, non-governmental organizations, and overseas-based enterprises. Based on the respective advantages of various subjects in the production and delivery of information resources, we can build a rational division of labor to improve the international audience's experiential perception of China's ecological civilization construction. At the same time, international friends should be encouraged to tell China's story to enhance the credibility of the discourse. For instance, Tim Gould, Chief Energy Economist of the International Energy Agency, highy praised China's leading role in the global energy transition, stating that as the world transitions to clean energy, China’s contribution will continue to have a profound positive impact on the global energy landscape.
Third, build multi-dimensional communication platforms. On one hand, we must make good use of domestic and foreign media platforms. Not only should we build high-end international media with Chinese characteristics to break the technical barriers set by Western countries on global information flow and open new frontiers for China’s external promotion, but we should also cooperate with influential international mainstream media. Particular importance should be attached to the role of non-Western global media such as Al Jazeera and RT (Russia Today) to broaden the channels for China's green development discourse. On the other hand, we should emphasize the vocalizing channels of multilateral and multi-dimensional international cooperation platforms, continuing to consolidate and expand exchange platforms such as the Eco Forum Global Guiyang, the Belt and Road Journalists Network Forum, and the Forum on China-Africa Media Cooperation. This will enhance the communication effect of the concept of the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature.
(The author is a Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of Marxism, Dalian University of Technology)
Source: Studies in Ideological Education, Issue 6, 2024
Web Editor: Ma Jingren