American versus Chinese Mediated Public Diplomacy: The (De)securitization of 5G in Brazil and Chile

VILA SEOANE, MAXIMILIANO FACUNDO

Congreso; IAMCR 2021; 2021

International Association for Media and Communication Research

In the context of its technological competition with China, Trump?s administration has launched a global diplomatic campaign to convince?and sometimes coerce?allies and other partners alike to ban Chinese 5G providers. Yet, this boycott campaign has had heterogeneous results. In order to understand this variation, this presentation proposes to adapt Entman?s concept of mediated public diplomacy to consider the competition between American and Chinese actors that seek to disseminate frames to (de)securitize 5G in foreign media systems. Specifically, this presentation shall contrast the different reception of these efforts in Brazil and Chile, the two first countries in Latin America toannounce 5G auctions. While both nations share a political culture similar to the USA, differences in the political elites´ socio-technical imaginaries on the role of 5G and China, together with the more vocal stance of Chinese actors, have set limits to the American efforts.