Reflection of the Taiwan Issue in the Diplomatic Discourse of Russia, China and the United States at the Present Stage

Abstract

The article deals with the actual problem of reflecting the Taiwan issue in the diplomatic discourses of Russia, China and the United States. The source of the analysis was the texts of the diplomats' speeches for 2023. The following diplomats and politicians' interviews, speeches, and statements were examined: US Secretary of State — A.J. Blinken, Chinese Foreign Ministers — Qing Gang and Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister — S.V. Lavrov. As part of the studied issue of diplomatic discourse, an article by Russian diplomat V.F. Pryakhin about the upcoming visit of E. Blinken to Beijing was also analyzed. For the authors, key characters and words used in the speeches of diplomats who carried emotional and expressive connotations were of immediate interest. Considering diplomatic discourse as a form of communication between diplomatic officials and studying it by analyzing the specific language used in spoken or written language of diplomats, allows us to notice even minor changes in relations between states. When, instead of the usual and accepted emotionally restrained style, diplomats begin to use emotionally colored phrases in speech, we can talk about an increase in tension in communication between states. The works of domestic and foreign scientists were analyzed in a brief historiographical review of the issue under consideration. The purpose of the analysis was to study how the attitude to the Taiwan issue affects the diplomatic discourse of the main parties to the conflict: China and the United States, as well as the diplomatic discourse of a third party — Russia. Content analysis as a research method was used. The results of the study are presented in the form of a table of the three countries’ diplomatic discourses’ main elements, as well as in the form of a graph of expressiveness in the texts of different speeches. It was revealed that the Russian and Chinese diplomatic discourses are the most expressive.