Modern Social Science Research

In the context of globalization, science and technology communication has become a pivotal arena for national image construction. This study aims to show how the English edition of China Daily employs linguistic strategies in its coverage of Chinese space station to shape the image of a "responsible technological power", thereby providing strategic references for developing countries engaging in the competition for global scientific discourse power. Grounded in the attitude system of Appraisal Theory, this research adopts a hybrid methodology integrating corpus linguistics and discourse analysis. Focusing on 105 articles (over 60,000 words) related to the space station published in China Daily (English Edition) between 2021 and 2024, the study employs quantitative statistical analysis and qualitative textual close reading to validate three strategic dimensions: constructing narratives of autonomous innovation in the technological sphere, activating traditional cosmological perspectives in the cultural domain, and emphasizing global collaboration in the cooperative dimension. The findings reveal that aerospace discourse utilizes a trinity of national image narratives—"technological autonomy, cultural confidence, and social empathy"—to transform the space station into both empirical validation of institutional advantages and a medium for cross-civilizational dialogue. By systematically deploying judgmental resources, cultural-semiotic reactivation, and inclusive collaborative frameworks, the reporting crafts a discursive paradigm of "soft articulation of hard power" for science communication. This paradigm demonstrates how linguistic strategies reconcile technical achievements with socio-cultural legitimacy, offering a replicable model for developing countries to navigate global techno-political narratives while asserting their discursive agency.

Appraisal Theory; Positive Discourse Analysis; China Daily; Chinese space station