Publication |
2012.
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Summary/Abstract |
This article explores how the Chinese government managed the 2009 Xinjiang riot through communications. To reconcile Western crisis communication concepts with the Chinese case, this study examines the government communications via news conferences during the riot. It finds that government communication functions only at operational and tactical levels but fails to play a strategic role in crisis management. This is so partly because government public relations have not yet been fully institutionalized. It also notes the differences between the government's handling of a political crisis (the Xinjiang riot) and of a natural disaster (the Sichuan earthquake).
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