‘We’re here to spite our government’: Intertextuality and comparative representations of TikTok migrants in Chinese and Western news discourse

Jinfeng Du, University of Malaya, Jiankun Gong, University of Malaya, Krirk University, Run Li, Lancaster University, Hamedi Mohd Adnan, University of Malaya

Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism

Published online on November 03, 2025

Abstract

Journalism, Ahead of Print.
Drawing on Fairclough’s model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and intertextuality, this study examines how Chinese and Western media represent TikTok migrants in response to US digital platform restrictions. Through a comparative analysis of news ...