China’s Discursive Legitimation of Foreign Policy: Framing of the Fukushima Wastewater Release Plan as an Existential Threat

Oriental Studies. 2026. Vol. 19. No. 2. P. 340–354.

Khliubko D.

Introduction. China's harsh reaction to Japan's plan to release treated Fukushima wastewater is driven by more than environmental worries. I presume that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) treats this episode as a legitimation tool. Goals. This article shows how official Chinese discourse legitimized its foreign policy by utilizing the Fukushima Wastewater Release Plan. Materials and methods. This article applies securitization theory to analyze articles published in the People’s Daily (Renmin Ribao), combining semantic network analysis covering the period from 2021 to 2023 with critical discourse analysis of the peak phase from August 22 to September 12, 2023. Results. The study identifies four discursive legitimation strategies – authorization, rationalization, moralization, and mythopoesis. Together, those strategies cast Japan as a hostile Other and the water release as a looming disaster. China, in contrast, is portrayed as a responsible guardian of public health and international rules. By invoking authoritative voices, scientific arguments, moral condemnation, and apocalyptic narratives, the CCP’s media discourse justified extraordinary countermeasures. People’s Daily portrayed import bans and diplomatic protests as unavoidable defensive steps. By framing the matter as a security issue, the CCP strengthens its legitimacy both at home and abroad. At home, the government looks like a shield; internationally, China appears as a defender of safety and order. The findings show how securitizing discourse can serve as a foreign policy justification, turning an environmental dispute into a resource for regime support and strategic advantage. This study contributes to research on political communication in authoritarian regimes and the theory of securitization, demonstrating how state-controlled discourse helps legitimize harsh policies in undemocratic contexts.

Keywords: секьюритизация, Китай, securitization, критический дискурс-анализ, стратегии легитимации, legitimation strategies, Фукусима, critical discourse analysis, China, Fukushima