Peace Journalism at a Nuclear Flashpoint: Chinese and U.S. Media Framing of the Kashmir Conflict in the India–Pakistan Dispute

Abstract

This comparative content analysis examines how elite Chinese (Global Times, China Daily, 2019) and U.S. (The New York Times, The Washington Post, April–June 2025) newspapers framed the Kashmir conflict through peace and war journalism. We coded 266 Chinese and 100 U.S. articles paragraph-by-paragraph, assigning a dominant frame using a two-thirds rule, and analyzed slant and national frames toward India and Pakistan. Chinese outlets predominantly used conflict frames (50%) but combined these with solution- and dialogue-oriented cues, yielding higher peace-frame usage (36%) than U.S. outlets (18%). U.S. coverage during Operation Sindoor emphasized elite/security narratives and framed India more favorably, consistent with Indo-Pacific alignment; China’s coverage leaned diplomatically toward Pakistan, reflecting CPEC and regional interests. χ² tests showed significant associations between outlet country and frame/slant; effect sizes were moderate. Findings suggest framing tracks geopolitical alignments more than journalistic neutrality and underscore the limits—and possibilities—of peace journalism in high-stakes crises.

Keywords: Kashmir Conflict, Media Framing, Peace Journalism, War Journalism, Chinese Media, US Media, Indo-Pak Relations, Foreign Policy, Public Diplomacy