Sebuah Kajian Pustaka:


English Language Teaching Educational Journal (ELTEJ) 
Vol. 2, No. 3, 2019, pp. 121-132 
E-ISSN: 2621-6485  

  

Uyghur and China in The American Media Discourse: 

A Critical Discourse Analysis of CNN News Articles  

 
1Prayudha, 2Ma’ruf Fawwaz 

1, 2 English Education Department, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, Indonesia 

prayudha@pbi.uad.ac.id 

 
Abstract 

This paper analyzes the textual aspects in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) Norman Fairclough model 

of CNN news discourse about Uyghur issue. When this research is conducted, there are only at least five 

articles specifically discussing Uyghur issue that are 29th December 2011, 29th February 2012, 29th 

February 2012, 30th October 2013, and 5th September 2014 publications. The research focuses on 

analyzing the text representation and the relation between participants in the discourse. Objectives of the 

paper are: 1) to analyze the text representation of news in the news channel of CNN related to the Uyghur 

case, and 2) to analyze the relation between participants in the news channel of CNN related to the 
Uyghur case. The subject of this paper is Uyghur issue as reflected in the news articles of CNN 

International. The paper applies qualitative descriptive method. As a consequence: CNN often put 

formality features and a vague vocabulary to block and obscure the negative value from the readers to 

China. The relation here is presented by CNN to China rather than CNN to Uyghur. It is reflected by the 

power of the status of China. 

Keywords: critical discourse analysis, Uyghur issue, CNN  

 

How to Cite: Prayudha, & Fawwaz, M. (2019). Uyghur and China in The American Media Discourse: A 

Critical Discourse Analysis of CNN News Articles. English Language Teaching Educational Journal, 

2(3), 121-132.  

  

 

INTRODUCTION  

Uyghur issue has become international topic. Quoted from Human Rights Watch 

(2019), United Nations experts responded it by issuing critics toward Chinese government’s 

counterterrorism law that is being used to justify violations of basic rights and freedoms in 

Xinjiang. The counterterrorism program was started since 2014 when local government 

demand new identity card for Uyghur community (Finley, 2019). The prosses was started 

by making project of mass interment. In the perceptive of China’s government, The Uyghur 

are extremist. China perceives that the Muslim ethnicity were increasingly on creating their 

independent state (Terhune and Matusitz, 2016). According to Soliev (2016) the judgment 

occurred seriously after the execution of Chinese a freelance consultant from Beijing by 

ISIS in Syiria in November 2015. The Chinese government argues that the execution was 

related with the Uyghurs. About 300 migrants from Uyghur joined ISIS as foreign fighters 

(Clarke and Kan, 2017). Uyghurs ethnic group itself are the indigenous population of The 

Xinjiang Region that is  a large area in the northwestern part of the People’s Republic of 

China (Dawyer, 2005).  

Conflict between Uyghurs versus Chinese government is actually related with global 

issue of terrorism. Battle between liberal value and Islam dominates western medias 

discourse especially American media after the attacks on September 11th, 2001. That 

condition strengthen of Islamic practice aggravates preexisting tensions or may initiate new 

conflicts (Mahmood, 2006). One of the examples of that conflict is in China. Islamic 

practices and Uyghur ethnic markers were increasingly framed in the public written media 

as sources of social and national insecurity (Castets, 2007). 



 

 

 

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That condition has been approved by several scientific research. Meyer (2012) from 

University of Cambridge wrote a dissertation entitled Governing Muslim Minority as 

Security Threats: The Case of The Uyghurs and the Concept of New Chinese Nation. That 

research found that hundreds of Chinese official news report framed Uyghurs as Islamic 

extremism and a serious treat for Chinese nationalism. The framed discourse is not only 

published in China. Beijing attempts to develop it into global understanding including in 

U.S perspective. Jai (2016: 3) concludes that China makes Uyghur issue as a commodity 

which can be placed as equal as international war on terror.  

If the campaign has been done massively, the question is whether it influences 

international media especially American media in capturing Uyghurs issue or not. To 

answer the question, an approach is needed to be applied. This research discusses the 

perspective of American media toward Uyghur and Chinese government using Critical 

Discourse Analysis (CDA) model Norman Fairclough (2013). As one of the largest medias 

in United States of America (USA), CNN news portal becomes the data source of the 

research. Founded in 1980 by Ted Turner, the media is also considered as a liberal media. 

CNN had earned a reputation as a more liberal network (Gilbert, 2012: 40). News published 

by CNN had influenced global political issues and then it is uttered as “CNN Effect”. The 

CNN effect for instance had shaped conflict in Kosovo (1998) and Iraq (2003). In Kosovo 

civil war, the media focuses on the topics which were not merely beneficial for the 

Albanian and it gradually shifted Western policy toward military intervention (Bahador, 

2007). Almost similar with that, in Iraq war, Jaramillo (2009) argues that CNN strategy was 

retelling the official narrative of the government to justify war. 

Jaramillo (2009) also says that the CNN strategy is driven by some motives: ideology, 

economy, and ratting. To know the motives, here CNN News about Uyghur issue, it needs 

CDA analysis. CDA becoming the approach of the research is because the approach can 

discuss a discourse not only from the appearance but also from the power and ideology 

behind the discourse. Ideologies are propositions that generally figure as implicit 

assumptions in texts, which contribute to producing or reproducing unequal relations of 

power, relations of domination (Fairclough, 1995). The ideology and power behind a text 

can be observed by seeing the language in a text critically. Critical is used in a special 

sense, to denote the connections that might be hidden. For example, Budairi (2018) revealed 

how textbooks have been designed to foreground the supremacy of Western practices and in 

doing so, to preserve the hegemonic power of the center. This study observes ideology and 

power behind news article published in CNN about Uyghur issue. It is expectantly that the 

study can answer how the “CNN Effect” works in the conflict between Uyghur and Chinese 

Government.      

 

Critical Discourse Analysis 

According to Van Dijk (2009), CDA is one of analytical research that studies the way 

social power abuse, dominance, and inequality are enacted, reproduced, and resisted by text 

and talk in the social and political context. In other words, CDA is the study of law by 

language perspective. Van Dijk also stated the practice of language power inequalities often 

occurs. In Fairclough (2010) perspective, CDA aims to systematically explore often opaque 

relationships of causality and determination between (a) discursive practices, events and 

texts, and (b) wider social and cultural structures, relations and processes; to investigate 

how such practices, events, and texts arise out of and are ideologically shaped by relations 

of power and struggles over power. Hence, CDA is a form of discourse analysis that studies 



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the relationship between discourse and ideology. According to Fairclough (2013), ideology 

is closely linked to power, because the nature of the ideological assumptions embedded in 

particular conventions themselves, depends on the power relations which underline the 

conventions. 

Fairclough (1992) states that there are three dimensions in CDA: (1) Text Dimension, 

(2) Discursive Practice Dimension, and (3) Social Practice Dimension. The Text dimension 

attends language analysis of texts. The discursive practice dimension specifies the nature of 

the process of text production and interpretation for example which types of discourse 

(including 'discourses' in the more social-theoretical sense) are drawn upon and how they 

are combined. The social practice dimension appears on issues of concern in social analysis  

such as the institutional and organizational circumstances of the discursive event and how 

that shapes the nature of the discursive practice. This study focuses on the text analysis. 

Texts here are parts of social events (Fairclough, 2003). Fairclough (2013) sees the text on 

many levels. A text is not only about how the object is displayed but also how the 

relationship between object definitions must be calculated. In this stage, there are two 

elements that can be described: text representation and text relation that is the relation 

between participants in texts. 

 

Text Representation 

This aspect is linked to how someone or group, action, or tragedy are shown in the 

text. Fairclough (2013) states there are three types of representation, including 

representation in clauses, representation in a combination of clauses, and representation in 

an egalitarian sequence. In representation in clauses level, there are two points in this 

section: vocabulary and grammar. 

At vocabulary level, there are many words to provoke the readers. For instances, 

these two words are "could not yet and cannot." In this case, a writer could put someone, 

groups or incident to be shown as action or an event. Every word gives a different meaning 

and also different perceptions. The word "could not yet" is better than "cannot." “could not 

yet” means someone or group did not finish the job at that time, but it was possible for them 

to try again because they are not given up. The word cannot mean inversely proportional to 

the previous one. 

At the grammar level, Fairclough's model focuses on whether grammar is displayed 

as a process or participant. Generally, when it is displayed as a process, the transitive 

structures would be (Subject + Verb + Object). When it is displayed as a participant, as an 

actor's generally, it is shown as an active word. This actor is also do something to the 

object. In this case, generally, the objects are displayed as passive words that is "poor 

people did a suicide last night." Based on the example, there is only one point to “suicide 

action” in the data. There are no specific actors and the motive behind it. 

The next level is representation in a combination of clauses. This aspect discusses 

how two or more sentences are arranged. One important aspect is whether participants are 

considered independent or displayed to react in a news text. Another important aspect is 

whether there is any information displayed as a foreground or background. In a clause that 

occupies a position as a background, displayed is a summary of the news theme which then 

given as the information of the event backgrounds. Placing a sentence arrangement as 

implicit would show the practice that the writer wants to convey.  

 

Text Relation 

This aspect is related to how the participant is displayed in the text. Fairclough (2013) 

states that there are three types of participant: a reporter, the media, and the public. This 

aspect is not focused on how public participation is displayed in media. It is about how that 



 

 

 

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pattern is connected to each other in the text. One of the examples is a news which is 

covered Papua merdeka issue. The news can produce two choices; the first is the Papuan 

party who is not satisfied with the news and the second is the government who wants Papua 

to remain peaceful under the authority of the Indonesian government.  

 

RESEARCH METHOD 

This research is a qualitative descriptive study because the ultimate goal is to explain 

and describe all facts objectively with the final results in the form of lingual units such as 

words, phrases, and sentences not in the form of numbers. In this study, the object studied is 

the text representation and text relation in the news channel of CNN related to the Uyghur 

issue. The news is chosen due to several factors, such as Uyghur issue is hot topic in all 

around the world until today and the background of the media which cover the issue is one 

the biggest news portal in USA. After searching on the CNN International website, at least, 

until the research finished, there are five articles in CNN which covers Uyghur issue. That 

are 29th December 2011, 29th February 2012, 29th February 2012, 30th October 2013, and 5th 

September 2014 editions.       

The data collecting method used in this study is simak method. The technique that 

follows is a note-taking technique. The data of this research is collected by reading some 

news in the CNN International website that related to the Uyghur case. After collected, the 

data is analyzed using Padan method with the technique of pilah unsur penentu with daya 

pilah sebagai pembeda referen. According to Sudaryanto (2015), Padan method is 

determined by outside factors and it is not part of the language concerned. The determinant 

factor here are the text representation and relation as postulated in the CDA model 

Fairclough (1984). The example of the data analysis can be seen as follows: 

 

(1) “The Chinese authorities have often blamed militants of Uyghur descent for 
outbreaks of violence in Xinjiang in recent years.” (Text 1, paragraph 7).  

 

Text 1 paragraph 7 would more be represented as an event (The Chinese authorities 

(S) have often blamed (V) militants of Uyghur descent (O) for outbreaks of violence in 

Xinjiang in recent years (A)). The subject or agent here has a responsibility to the object of 

the sentence. The subject is reflected inanimate participants, so it can be called as non-

directed action. Thus, this sentence must be an event. 

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 

The research findings are taken from five different news texts from CNN International 

online newspaper but those texts are still spotlighted Uyghur case. The text or articles 

published on 29th December 2011, 29th February 2012, 29th February 2012, 30th October 

2013, and 5th September 2014. The analysis includes text representation and the relation 

between participants. The theories in this analysis belong Fairclough (2013).  

A. Text Representation in CNN related to the Uyghur Issue 

Text representation is divided into two analysis: vocabulary and grammar. The 

vocabulary in a discourse is used to display and describe something, includes ideology and 

expressive things. The vocabulary components include experiential values, relational 

values, expressive values, and metaphors. The second is grammar. The Grammar in 

discourse is used to underline the action or event. The grammatical components include 



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experiential values, expressive values, relational values, and how the simple sentence are 

linked. 

 

a. Vocabulary  

1) Experiential Value 

Experiential value is how the ideological differences between texts in their 

representations of the world are coded in the vocabulary.  There could be by synonym, 

antonym, or hyponym. The sentence below is taken from text 1 and also for the instance of 

experiential value analysis. 

 

(2) “Police opened fire when locals clashed with officers during a demonstration 

outside the police bureau, he said.” (Text 1, paragraph 5). 

There is synonym in the sentence as a repetition of words. It is ‘police’ and ‘officers.' 

The meaning is the same, but the repetition of ‘officer’ has its own ideology. In the 

vocabulary, the word ‘officers’ is politer, and the influence in social relations is higher than 

'police' itself. In this case, the word ‘officer’ as repetition could protect the agent from the 

object, and the impact is the object did not have the power to take over his position as a 

victim.   

 

2) Relational Value 

Relational value is how the text choices the words to create social relationships 

between participants; this word includes formal and informal words. It can be observed 

from the data bellow.  

 
(3) In December, Chinese authorities killed seven Uyghurs in a bid to free two 

hostages kidnapped in the rural county of Pishan, near Yecheng, in an incident 
which the Stockholm-based World Uyghur Congress disputes. (Text 2, paragraph 
7).  

 

The meaning of this phrase 'rural county' is similar to the 'Village,' but CNN as the 

producer of the discourse more likely to choose a 'rural county' to the component of the text. 

Ideologically, this phrase could to represent the other words. It might be more appropriate, 

but this phrase is more formal. The phrase also does not have a reduction in the sentence 

meaning. Thus, this would be probably like the respect of social relations. 

 

3) Expressive Value  

A discourse or text occasionally contains the word or phrase which has a certain 

ideology. Expressive refers to the persuasive language, and it aims to show the contrastive 

ideology. Thus, this all can be called as expressive value. The sentence below is taken from 

text 2 and also for the instance of expressive value analysis. 

 

(4) In December, Chinese authorities killed seven Uyghurs in a bid to free two 

hostages kidnapped in the rural county of Pishan, near Yecheng, in an incident 

which the Stockholm-based World Uyghur Congress disputes. (Text 2, paragraph 

7).   

The expressive value is reflected in the phrase 'a bid.' It can be represented as a 

positive expressive value to the consumer. In this case, the phrase 'a bid' acts as an active 



 

 

 

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word to combine two clauses. The prominent meanings to the consumers would be likely 

like this 'before they killed Uyghurs, they had already offered 'a bid' to free to the hostages.' 

It gives an advantage to the Uyghur because the phrase 'a bid' is covered them from their 

criminal activity (killed seven Uyghurs). Expressively, it gives disadvantages to the Uyghur 

even it is positive for several readers.  

 

4) Metaphors 

Metaphor is a means of representing something by another term. It could be poetry 

and literary discourse. The particular interest of metaphor here is the relationship between 

alternative metaphors that displayed as different ideology. Further discussion can be seen 

from the data.  

 
(5) Uyghur exile groups claim that Beijing uses the ETIM as a red herring to 

rationalize its repressive policies against the Uyghurs. (Text 5, paragraph 14).  
 

A metaphor occurs in the phrase 'a red herring.' The meaning of this metaphor is 

diverting the conversation from the main problem, but in this case, there is any other hidden 

meaning. Interestingly, the producer here acts as a neutral participant. Briefly, the producer 

placed himself on the Uyghur sides after all news about Uyghur in the previous sentences. 

The producer also got a moment to blame China. It is reflected in the clause 'to rationalize 

its repressive policies against the Uyghurs.' Expressively, the metaphor aim is to get a fight 

between Uyghur and China. 

 

b. Grammar  

The text representation of grammar includes experiential value, relational value, 

expressive value, and how the simple sentence linked.  

 

1) Experiential Values  

The experiential aspect of grammar is how the relation grammatical forms of 

language codes are connected in this world. It includes people, animals, or things involved 

in those happenings or relationships. The experiential value itself contains four components; 

there are the process, nominalizations, active or passive sentences, and positive or negative 

sentences. 

 

a) The Process  

The process is a choice between different grammatical process and participant types, 

and the selection that is made can be ideologically significant. It includes actions SVO 

(Subject + Verb + Object), events SV (Subject + Verb), and attributions SVC (Subject + 

Verb + Complement). The sentence below is taken from text 1 and also for the instance of 

the process analysis.  

 

(6) "We Chinese are glad to see these Muslims' death!"(Text 5, paragraph 5).  

The sentence above refers to possessive attributions. The components are “We 

Chinese” (S) are “glad” (S) “to see these Muslims' death” (C). The agent here is an animate 

thing, so the agent is responsible to the other participant. Thus, the agent here does not try 



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to reduce the meaning of the sentence. This sentence is shown to express the resentment of 

citizens to Uyghurs with the human common sense. 

 

b) Nominalizations 

Nominalization is a conversion process of verb or adjective into a noun (or a multi-

word compound noun, as here). The sentence below is taken from text 1 and also for the 

instance of nominalization analysis. 

 

(7) The Iraqi Army has captured an Islamic State in Iraq and Syria fighter from China, 

the Baghdad-datelined report said. (Text 5, Paragraph 1). 

The first is text 5, paragraph 1. The nominalization process is reflected in the word 

'fighter.' The 'Fighter' here is also could be called a participant. The aim is to spotlight the 

main subject, 'The Iraqi Army.' This nominalization has a reduction of the action, but the 

causality and the responsibility are clear. 

 

c) Active or Passive Sentences  

The active or passive sentence here is used for avoiding the hiding when the 

information is already given in some way. Text 5 contains the active sentences, and there is 

no found the passive sentences. This active sentence here is predominantly of the agent who 

introduced by the verbs that follow it. Thus, it makes causality, and the agency is clear. 

 

(8) A spate of violent incidents has been blamed on the Uyghurs. (Text 5, paragraph 

10). 

The sentence refers to the passive sentence. The agency here is unclear because it is 

reflected by an inanimate thing (A spate). Also, it leaves the causality of the text unclear. 

Thus, this sentence can be called an agentless passive sentence.   

 

d) Positive or Negative Sentences  

The positive or negative sentence here is based on intertextuality of a text. There are 

only two negative sentences that found in text 1, and it is dominantly by positive sentence. 

The sentence below is taken from text 1 and also for the instance of the positive or negative 

sentence. 

 

(9) However, Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the Stockholm-based World Uyghur 
Congress, said the shooting did not stem from a rescue operation. (Text 1, 

paragraph 4).  

This sentence comes from the direct informant (Dilxat Raxit) which has been 

paraphrased by CNN. It could make the sentence more valuable. It is said that the shooting 

did not stem from a rescue operation. In this sentence, there are two participants who were 

cornering the Uyghur, i.e. Dilxat Raxit and CNN, so it could lead the consumer views to 

give a negative value to the Uyghurs. 

 

2) Expressive Value  

The expressive value here refers to expressive modality. It could be modal auxiliaries, 

the verbs with non-modal present tense, and perfect tense forms. The sentence below is 

taken from text 1 and also for the instance of expressive value in grammar. 

 



 

 

 

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(10) The report, which could not be independently verified, gave no details about 
what could have sparked the violence. (Text 2, paragraph 3). 

The word ‘could’ means the possibility. The agent here is an inanimate thing, and the 

word 'could' itself did not have a responsibility to the agent. The modality here is the 

interpretation of what the agents have done. 

 

3) Relational Value  

There are some varieties of grammatical features of texts which have relational 

values. There are modes of sentence, modality, and pronouns.  

 

a) Modes of Sentences  

Here, there are three major modes: declarative (S followed by V), grammatical 

question, and imperative (do not have an S at all). The sentence below is taken from text 1 

and also for the instance of modes of sentences.  

 

(11) Xinhua said the trouble began when a group of knife-wielding assailants 
attacked people in a market. (Text 3, paragraph 2). 

The sentence above is likely to be a declarative sentence. The components are the 

Xinhua (S) followed by said as (V). The subject here acts as the giver (of information), and 

the addressee's position is the consumer. This would be that the Xinhua as China's side put 

himself into the victim in this sentence; it reflected how the agent is accentuated himself. 

 

b) Modality 

Modality has to do with speaker’s or writer’s authority. It can be observed from the 

data 12. 

 

(12) Neither account could be independently verified. (Text 3, paragraph 6). 

The modality in the data 6 is reflected in the word ‘could.' This modality refers to the 

expressive modality. It is reflected by the subject (account) is speaking about the possibility. 

Notice also the adverb in front of the account. It makes the modality is clear to be relational 

modality. 

 

c) Pronouns 

Pronouns here have relational values of different sorts. This closer to the relation 

between the agent to the other participants. The sentence below is taken from text 1 and also 

for the instance of pronouns. 

 

(13) Beijing says militant Uyghur groups linked to the East Turkistan Islamic 
Movement, a separatist organization it says operates from neighboring 

Afghanistan and Pakistan, have been fomenting trouble in the region. (Text 3, 

paragraph 11).   



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A pronoun in the data (13) is reflected in the ‘It.' The ‘It' here refers to the separatist 

organization. It has been reduced in the textual structure, but the meaning is the same. The 

writer aims probably to make the subject is more specific. 

 

4) How the Simple Sentences Linked  

It is how the formal features are connected together parts of texts. It is also about how 

the relationship between texts and contexts: some formal features point outside the text to 

its situational context, or to its 'intertextual' context. It includes the logical connector, 

coordination or subordination, and the means inside and outside. 

 

a) The Logical Connector 

This connector is based on ideological perspective. In other words, this connector is 

an effect of an agent action to the other participant. The sentence (14) is taken from text 1 

and also for the instance of the logical connector. 

 

(14) The WUC said the deaths occurred when police opened fire on a demonstration 
outside a police bureau where Uyghurs were protesting a recent security 

crackdown in Hotan city. (Text 2, paragraph 8). 

The logical connector here is manifested in the word ‘when' and ‘where.' Both 

pronouns here are connecting three clauses. The first clause is connected by ‘when' which 

refer to causal relationship between the first and the second clause. The second connector is 

‘where' which connected the second clause to the third clause; it also refers to the 

consequential relationships. The producer aim in this sentence is to show that the police has 

a reason to blamed the Uyghurs. Thus, it gives a positive value from the consumer to China.  

 

b) Coordination or Subordination 

Coordination or Subordination is how the sentence in the complex sentence are 

combined. It also how the texts commonsensically divide information into relatively 

prominent and relatively backgrounded. 

 

(15) The news agency said that 10 people were killed in riots in the restive Xinjiang 
province and police shot dead a further two people in the disturbance. (Text 2, 

paragraph 2).  

 

(16) It said a group of knife-wielding assailants attacked people in a market in 
Yecheng county. (Text 2, paragraph 3).  

In the data (15), the first clause up to 'province' is the main clause, the second (the rest 

of the sentence) is subordinate. The main clause is contained to statement which followed 

by the conjunction 'and.' It is asserted that the riots left 10 people died also followed by the 

police actions. Expressively, this conjunction is covering the agent (police) to his action, 

because the first clause is more uptight for several consumers.  

The pronouns 'it' in the data (16) shows the unclear extension of meaning. The agent 

here is shown as an inanimate thing. It is not compatible because there is no responsibility 

of the agent. Thus, it makes the reader assume that the information is valid, although the 

previous sentence says not. Expressively, this pronoun leads the consumer to the producer 

aims.  

 

 



 

 

 

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B. The Relation between Participants in CNN related to the Uyghur Issue 

A relation here is how the participants in the media relations and displayed in the text. 

There are two main participants in discourse; it includes the participants: China and 

Uyghur. The analysis below is taken from CNN related to the Uyghur case. Text 1 entitled 

"China, Uyghurs offer A Different Account of Deadly Shooting" published on 29th 

December 2011. In-text 1, the relation between CNN and China is apparent rather than to 

the Uyghurs. It reflected by how many times the CNN's put attention to China in many 

ways. The sentence below is taken from text 1 for instance. 

 

(17) Chinese officials said they killed seven members of the Uyghur ethnic group in 
the restive western region of Xinjiang in order to free two hostages -- an 

account the Uyghurs disputed. (Text 1, paragraph 1).  

 

(18) Beijing has said Uyghur militants are often based overseas and has linked some 
of them to the East Turkistan Islamic Movement that allegedly trains in 

Pakistan. (Text 1, paragraph 8). 

 

(19) Uyghur activists say the crackdowns have only heightened anger among 
Uyghurs who already accuse the government of religious and political 

repression. (Text 1, paragraph 10). 

 

In the first instance, in the data (17) Uyghur is displayed as a passive agent. CNN's is 

more interested in putting relations with the Chinese. It showed how social power is 

represented. It is reflected by the vocabulary they use. 'Chinese officials' here has a large 

power of social to provoke the consumer. It aims to convince the consumer about the 

validity of the information and also to give respect to the social status. However, the other 

participant (Uyghur) is harmed because of the social status itself. It obviously the Uyghur 

here is the victim, but that was blocked by the social status. 

The second instance, sentence (18) shows the partiality of the producer to text. This 

sentence comes from a direct speech which has been changed to the indirect speech. It is 

said that Beijing claimed the Uyghur militants are often based overseas and has linked some 

of them to the East Turkistan Islamic Movement. This conversion could affect the 

imagination of the reader is overtaken. Expressively, it also signaled if CNN or producer 

agrees with what Beijing says. 

The third, data (19) is the CNN take attention to the Uyghur. It can be seen by how 

CNN gives a chance to Uyghur to take part in this news, although the informant of Uyghur 

here does not have social power as China. This is a disadvantage for Uyghurs in the practice 

of discourse. The other disadvantage is that the word 'only' before (have) would probably 

give a negative relation between Uyghurs to the consumer, and it could make the situation 

worse. 

 

CONCLUSION 

The conclusion deals with some findings. CNN, as one of American media, from the 

discussion above is obscuring the negative value from China as a government to get 

positive value from the readers. CNN here also used formality features that can block a 

negative value or perspective. Uyghurs here does not have a place to protect himself even in 

text. In some articles, CNN put attention to China. It is reflected by how many vague 



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vocabulary or sentences that come after every China’s statement. The aim is to blur the 

negative value from China to the readers. When giving Uyghur extra attention, in some 

articles, CNN uses many vocabulary or sentence that corner to the Uyghurs. Unfortunately, 

it also does not work as vice versa to China. They block a negative value from the readers 

by formality features. Although, in one article, CNN textually puts attention to both of them. 

However, implicitly, CNN refers to China. It is reflected by the vocabulary and grammar 

they use. China gets a vague meaning to block the negative value from the readers. In 

relation between participants level, CNN is numerically interested in CNN rather than 

Uyghur. It is reflected as directly and indirectly in the five different data above. Although, 

in some part, CNN tries to spread his ideology about an Islam phobia to the public. This 

discussion is not based on the actual condition of China and USA relationship. It is 

interesting to analyze CDA analysis for latest CNN news article about Uyghur issue and 

then compare it with the findings in this research.   

 

 

REFERENCES 

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