Introduction

China is the fourth largest migrant-sending country in the world (International Organization for Migration, 2022), and Europe is a major destination for Chinese migrants (International Organization for Migration, 2022). Over the last 30 years, Europe has witnessed new features and patterns of Chinese migration (Li, 2009; Song, 2011). As a region with complex sources of migration, Europe’s attitude towards Chinese migrants is ambivalent. On the one hand, Chinese migrants are seen as positive contributors to the local economy, society, and culture (Chong and Druckman, 2007). In Austria, for example, Chinese immigrants have played a significant role in promoting catering, trade, and tourism, strengthening the partnership between Europe and China (Kwok, 2019). On the other hand, Chinese immigrants are also perceived as potential threats and intruders (Igartua and Cheng, 2009). Donovan (2017) points out that the continued success of Chinese firms in Spain raises local cultural concerns, especially in the context of the recent migrant crisis, where these firms are perceived as economic competitors as well as threats to the traditional Spanish way of life. Crises such as the political split surrounding immigration have a bearing on the development of Europe, and immigration has become one of the most dominant political issues in Europe (Helbling, 2013).

Since the outbreak of the Arab Spring in 2011, severe armed conflicts in the Middle East have shaken the world. These conflicts have led to the displacement of large numbers of civilians who have had to move either outside or inside the country. In 2010, Europe received fewer than 235,000 asylum applications, but by 2015, this number had surged to 1.3 million (International Organization for Migration, 2016). Although the EU has taken various measures to control external borders and migratory flows more effectively, this massive influx of refugees exceeded Europe’s capacity to accommodate them, leading to the culmination of the European migration crisis and deepening the contradictions and divisions within Europe (Busutil and Márquez, 2017). As a result, 2015 is seen as a turning point in the worsening of the migration crisis in Europe (Amores et al., 2019). Since then, policymakers and news media have significantly increased attention to migration issues (Bevan et al., 2023; Mastenbroek et al., 2022; Vincze et al., 2021).

The mass media has played a key role in the coverage of the refugee crisis as it has shaped the public’s main views on the issue (Greussing and Boomgaarden, 2017). Numerous studies have pointed out that the Western media tends to portray migrants negatively and favorably (Igartua et al., 2007; Muñiz et al., 1970; Van Gorp, 2005; Zhang, 2005). Since the 1990s, the association of migrants with crime, threats, and social problems has been increasingly reported (Bennett et al., 2012; Mai, 2005; Milioni et al., 2015). Together with several terrorist attacks experienced in Europe (e.g., Belgium), media portrayals of migrants have become even more negative (Amores et al., 2019). A study by Greussing and Boomgaarden (2017) found that framing migrants as associated with crime was particularly prominent in news reports in Austria in 2015, a narrative that hinders migrants’ integration with local communities. Furthermore, Amores et al.‘s (2019) analysis found that after 2015, German media often portrayed migrants as a burden or potential threat to society, which undoubtedly exacerbated negative public perceptions of migrants.

Although studies have been conducted to explore the coverage of migrants in the European media, little is still known about the narrative framing of specific migrant groups, such as Chinese migrants, in the European media and its impact on public perceptions. Especially in the context of the 2015 migrant crisis, the image of Chinese migrants in Europe and their interactions with local societies have become particularly complex and intriguing. Against this backdrop, how the mass media portray and frame the role and identity of Chinese migrants has become a topic worthy of deeper exploration. This study focuses on post-2015 European newspaper reports on Chinese migrants to better understand this issue. Guided by the framing theory, we will use the ANTMN method to analyze the image of Chinese immigrants presented in these reports to reveal how the media shapes and influences public perceptions and attitudes toward Chinese immigrants.

Literature review

New generation of immigrants in Europe: trends, impacts, and challenges

Early Chinese immigrants, primarily after the Opium Wars, chose to migrate due to war, poverty, and social upheaval, settling mainly in Southeast Asia, North America, and Australia (Mei, 1979). They predominantly engaged in physical labor, seldom integrated into local communities, and often settled together, forming distinctive neighborhoods such as Chinatowns (Ja, 2016). However, a new wave of immigrants has emerged since China’s reform and opening up in 1978, along with the rapid development of its economy and societal openness. Characterized by a desire to survive and develop themselves, they are generally well-educated and have not limited themselves to traditional immigration destinations, expanding instead to Europe, Africa, and Latin America (Li, 2009). Among these new immigrants, many are students, experts, and entrepreneurs. They integrate more easily into the social and economic fabric of their host nations, contrasting with earlier labor-focused immigrants (Choi and Liu, 2011).

With this new wave of migration, Europe has gradually become a new frontier for Chinese migrants. In recent years, the number of Chinese migrants received by Europe has surged significantly (Albertini et al., 2019). According to the (International Organization for Migration 2022), the number of international migrants from China has exceeded 10 million, making it the fourth-largest source of migrants worldwide, with Europe being the third-largest destination for Chinese migrants. Although traditional migration theories suggest that migration is driven by factors such as conflict, poverty, and environmental degradation (Ben-Yehuda and Goldstein, 2021), the majority of Chinese migrants to Europe are economically affluent and middle-class individuals (Wei, 2005). The number of technological and high-tech Chinese migrants in Europe, including many students, scholars, professionals, and entrepreneurs, is rapidly increasing (Frank, 2018). There are various reasons why Europe attracts Chinese migrants: Firstly, the welfare policies, advanced education system, and rich cultural heritage offered by Europe (Glynn, 2021; Zhang, 2003) have drawn the attention of the Chinese population. Secondly, due to the economic challenges, racial discrimination, and limitations in culture and media in the United States in recent years, an increasing number of Chinese individuals are turning to Europe as a more livable destination (Thuno, 2003). Meanwhile, economic and cultural cooperation between Europe and China is deepening, providing more opportunities for Chinese migrants (de Matos et al., 2022; Liedtke, 2017).

Although Chinese migrants constitute only a tiny portion of China’s population, they have significantly impacted the receiving countries (Liu, 2020). They have contributed to European countries’ economic, social, and cultural development and strengthened the economic ties between China and Europe (Olejarova, 2016; Donovan, 2017). Historically, Chinese migrants have enhanced the economic connections between their country of origin and host countries, with the recent wave of migration also contributing to strengthening Sino-European trade relations. Notably, student migrants have become a key sector in the global labor market, promoting enhanced cooperation between China and Europe in information sharing, data exchange, and orderly management of returning migrants (Wei, 2005). However, they face various challenges, such as cultural integration, employment difficulties, and language barriers (Chuong, 2010; Liang et al., 2018).

The migration crisis of 2015 led to a reevaluation of immigration issues by European governments and the public (Ivaldi, 2021; Ohme, 2020). The substantial population shifts and societal changes resulted in the rise of radical right-wing and populist political parties advocating for strengthened border control (Visintin et al., 2018). Present economic challenges in Europe have rendered the general public more negative attitudes towards immigrants (Joachim, 2019), increasing anti-immigrant sentiments and actions and bolstering hostility and stereotypes towards migrants (Gravelle, 2018). Although many studies have focused on immigration issues, research addressing Chinese migrants remains limited. Considering the distinctions between Chinese migrants and other migrant groups, we cannot simply apply European media depictions of all immigrants to Chinese migrants. Therefore, framing Chinese migrants in European media and societal perceptions against the backdrop of the 2015 migration crisis becomes a topic warranting in-depth research.

Media reporting and immigration issue framing

In media and news research, the definition of a frame or news frame has always been a core issue. Numerous scholars have delved into it based on similar characteristics. Goffman (1974) views framing as an interpretive strategy, assisting people in locating, perceiving, identifying, and labeling social events and information. Similarly, Entman (1993) emphasizes the significance of frames in propelling specific problem definitions and causal interpretations. Further refining the definition of frames, Tankard et al. (1991) describe a frame as the central organizing idea of news content, providing a background for the content and suggesting the main issues through selection, emphasis, exclusion, and elaboration. On the other hand, Neuman, Just, and Crigler (1992) perceive news frames as conceptual tools by which media and individuals interpret, convey, and evaluate information. This viewpoint is further supplemented by Reese (2007), who points out that frames are how events and issues are organized and understood, especially in the organization and understanding among media, media professionals, and audiences. These definitions of frames enrich our understanding of them and provide new research directions for mass communication research, a direction that differs from the previously popular paradigms of objectivity and bias (Tankard et al., 1991). More importantly, these frame studies allow researchers to delve into the deeper meanings of news reporting, revealing assumptions that may be concealed (Hackett, 1984), helping to shape public views on political and social issues (Semetko and Valkenburg, 2000), and influencing public opinion (Lopez-Rodriguez et al. 2020).

Immigration issues have sparked widespread controversy at both the political and social levels, and numerous studies have indicated that the media plays a crucial role in influencing public perceptions and understandings of this issue (Fryberg et al., 2011). News frames exercise their core mechanism by selectively presenting information, a choice that not only influences audience attitudes, beliefs, decisions, and behaviors (Chong and Druckman, 2007) but is often dependent on the involved participants and the specific situations dominating disputes (Helbling, 2013). Regarding immigration issues, Liu (2019) argues that the media’s portrayal of immigrants is not conducted in a simple binary opposition of “good and bad”; the alienation of immigrants is a complex process. When reporting on immigration issues, the media often employs various frames, including conflict, human interest, responsibility, and economic consequences (Jeesun and Wayne, 2018). Moreover, the media uses different frames targeting different immigrant groups, such as a compassionate frame to express sympathy for severely ill undocumented immigrants and an economic contribution frame to emphasize the positive impact of highly skilled immigrants on the national economy (Igarasi et al., 2022). In terms of outcomes, positive immigrant frames result in positive public views and support for immigrants (Parrott et al., 2019); negative immigrant frames stimulate public negative cognitive responses towards immigrants (Igartua and Cheng, 2009) and may lead to a decline in support for government welfare (Avgagic and Savage, 2021).

Although digital media is increasingly embedded in people’s daily lives, from the perspective of reporting frames, Czymara and van Klingeren (2021) found that, compared to digital media, print media presents a more diverse frame in its reporting on immigrants. Given that Europe’s attitude toward Chinese immigrants may be closely related to media reporting, this study explores how European print media frames Chinese immigrants and how these frames shape the image of Chinese immigrants. Furthermore, since news frames are not fixed, the media framing of reporting subjects will change over time (Gottlieb, 2015). As Harris and Gruenewald (2020) pointed out, from 1990 to 2013, news reports describing immigrants as criminals have increased, while those depicting them as victims have significantly decreased. This study will consider time, exploring whether the European media’s reporting frame on Chinese immigrants has changed after 2015.

ANTMN: inductive frame analysis based on machine learning

Research on news frames has always involved conceptual controversies, mainly focused on two approaches: equivalent frames and emphasis frames. Equivalent frames use different but logically equivalent words or phrases to generate frame effects, while emphasis frames form a frame by choosing one set of facts or arguments over others (Cacciatore et al., 2016). Although equivalent frames have advantages in controlled environments due to their precision, they are unsuitable for most news events and issues (Curtis, 2012). In contrast, emphasis frames, which selectively highlight different arguments, viewpoints, and facts to present events and issues, thereby influencing audience perceptions and responses, are considered more appropriate for news frame analysis (Entman, 1993; Gitlin, 1980). As for the methodology of frame analysis, common approaches are inductive and deductive. Inductive methods start from broader assumptions, attempting to reveal possible frame arrays. In contrast, deductive methods predefine specific frames as content analysis variables to verify the extent of these frames’ appearance in the news (Semetko and Valkenburg, 2000).

However, traditional emphasis frame analysis methods, whether inductive or deductive, are prone to the subjectivity and biases of manual coding. To overcome these challenges, Dror Walter and Yotam Ophir combined semantic network analysis and unsupervised learning methods of topic modeling, introducing a new method called Analysis of Topic Model Networks (ANTMN) (Walter and Ophir, 2019). It applies to the analysis of emphasis frames and is seen as an evolution of inductive methods because it relies on unsupervised machine learning, significantly reducing the need for manual coding (Walter and Ophir, 2019).

The ANTMN analysis process unfolds through three steps: Initially, topic modeling is employed to identify frame elements without directly equating a single topic to a frame. Subsequently, topics are situated within a network structure, acting as nodes and relationships (or edges) between topics calculated based on their co-occurrence within documents. Finally, various community detection techniques cluster these topics into coherent frames based on the prior conceptualization of frame packages (Walter and Ophir, 2019; Ophir et al., 2021). The ANTMN method presents three distinct advantages: First, constructing topic networks is purely inductive and free from prior knowledge, thereby reducing bias and subjectivity in frame analysis. Next, ANTMN saves more time and money than manually identifying frames. Lastly, ANTMN can unearth frames that might be easily overlooked in previous studies (Walter and Ophir, 2019). ANTMN has been validated and utilized in numerous studies for its effectiveness and applicability in frame analysis, as evidenced by the work of Ophir et al. (Walter and Ophir, 2019; Ophir et al., 2021). Therefore, this study utilizes ANTMN to analyze the framing of Chinese immigrants’ image in European newspapers, adhering to this methodology.

Based on this, the present study proposes the following research questions:

Q1: What news frames have European newspapers used to report on Chinese immigrants since 2015?

Q2: What image of Chinese immigrants is presented through these news frames?

Q3: Have there been any change trends in the framing and image of Chinese immigrants in European reports since 2015?

Methods

Data collection

This study takes the relevant reports on Chinese immigrants in European newspapers after 2015 as the research sample. With the help of the Lexis database, using Chinese immigrants as the keyword to extract English reports on Chinese immigrants from newspapers from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2022, a total of 1695 search results were retrieved, and news irrelevant or weakly related to the topic of Chinese immigrants was deleted. Finally, 360 news reports are taken as the final data sample, with 396,292 English characters for frame analysis.

Procedures and measures

Due to the potential limitations of traditional news framing research, this study uses an inductive mixed-method computational approach proposed by Walter and Ophir (2019)—ANTMN to conduct a frame analysis of Chinese immigrant images in European newspapers. First, topic modeling is used to identify frame elements, similar to what was done by DiMaggio et al. (2013), but it remains agnostic as to whether the discovered topics are frame elements in a limited context, full frame packages, or a combination of the two; Second, similar to the semantic network procedure (Baden, 2018), puts the topics in the network structure, where the topics are nodes, and the relationship (edge) between them is calculated by their co-occurrence in the document. Third, these themes are clustered together into consistent framework packages by using various community detection techniques. This three-step procedure is congruent with the definition of frames by scholars working within the emphasis framing approach, which conceptualizes framing as the constant use of language elements across texts and time.

Topic modeling

A topic model is an unsupervised statistical model of text content, described by Miriam (2012) as a method for finding phrases (topics) in a text corpus. This study used LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) and Gibbs Sampling, using R’s LDA and LDAtuning packages. Based on the guidelines suggested by Maier et al. (2018), this study preprocessed the texts firstly, including the removal of stop-words, conversion of capital letters to lowercase, and removal of words that occur in more than 99% of the documents, or less than 0.5% (in this order). The negative impact of lexicalization or stemming on topic stability is avoided (Walter and Ophir, 2019; Ophir et al., 2021). Then, the study derived the optimal number of topics based on suitable statistical metrics. A series of models containing 10–100 themes were estimated by a “skips” of 2 (Ophir et al., 2021), and a model containing 50 themes was selected for this study based on four fit metrics (Walter and Ophir, 2019; Ophir et al., 2021) (Appendix Table 1). According to Walter and Ophir (2019), this study aims to better explain themes by examining three types of information: the most loaded words, the ubiquitous and exclusive words to each theme, and the full documentation that best represents each topic.

Network parameters and community detection

This study computes pairwise cosine similarity based on the text shared between topics to build a network. Each news report always contains multiple topics; therefore, this study codes the topics and constructs a matrix where the columns represent the topics and the rows represent the names of the titles (Walter and Ophir, 2019). Then, we obtain a fully connected, undirected, and weighted network, where each node in the network is an encoded topic. The edges represent connections between nodes (topics), reflecting the degree of co-occurrence among topics. Walter and Ophir (2019) used five different detection algorithms to estimate the sensitivity of online community structure, and the results showed similarities among different algorithms. This study refers to Ophir et al. (2021), who chose the Louvain community detection algorithm to identify thematic frames or clusters that tend to co-occur. Modularity is a benchmark for assessing the strength of segmentation within a network. Robust intra-network connections and minimal inter-community interactions characterize effective community structures. By maximizing the network’s modularity, the Louvain algorithm excels in uncovering communities that are tightly knit internally yet loosely connected externally. The maximization process leads to an optimal delineation of communities, providing a deeper insight into the intricate fabric of complex network systems. The peak modularity value signifies the most favorable division of these communities. The workflow of the research method used in this paper is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1
figure 1

A flowchart about the method, which includes specific implementation steps.

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Results

This study employs ANTMN to extract 50 topics from the research sample (the 10 most representative words for each topic are shown in the appendix). The topics are grouped into four communities using the Louvain community detection algorithm, as illustrated in Fig. 2. These communities represent the four news frames commonly employed by European newspapers. Based on a content review and qualitative analysis of European newspaper articles about Chinese immigration from 2015 to 2022, this study finds that these four frames are consistent with the conceptual frames related to immigration issues.

Fig. 2: Network relationship diagram concerning the reporting frames on Chinese immigration.
figure 2

Each node represents a topic, with its size corresponding to relative prominence. Edges between nodes represent co-occurrence in the documents. Colors represent frame bundles.

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Integration frame

Upon reviewing the keywords and content associated with the first frame, this study posits that this frame (the red section in Fig. 2, encompassing 30% of the corpus) aligns with the definition of an assimilation frame. Assimilation, or acculturation, is a concept opposing the multicultural frame, aiming to describe how minority ethnic groups adopt the norms and values of the local society (Castles et al., 1993). In the United States, the term assimilation is more commonly used, while in Europe, integration is preferred (Sun, 2023); hence, this study adopts the Integration Frame to define this frame.

The Integration Frame broadly portrays the antagonism and conflicts between immigrant and local cultures, revealing the societal and cultural integration challenges Chinese immigrants face. Within this frame, the significant cultural differences between Chinese immigrants and the local environment of their destination countries are highlighted, including differences in language, beliefs, and dietary habits. The newspapers exhibit a lower tolerance for these differences, often perceiving them as manifestations of Chinese immigrants’ refusal to integrate. For example, when reporting on second-generation Chinese immigrants in Ireland, they are considered to have embraced comprehensive Chinese traditional values and culture with an unstable sense of self-identity. Locals see them as outsiders who are neither entirely Chinese nor Irish (Chu, 2017). Additionally, the newspapers’ depiction of first-generation immigrant parents emphasizes their dislike for “any foreign food,” perceiving them as individuals who “dislike any seasoning except for salt and hate onions” (Cleveland, 2015).

“My parents did not approve of any foreign food, nor indeed any seasoning or flavouring other than salt. They also despised onions. I once begged and cajoled my mum and dad to take me into a Chinese restaurant in York, when I was about eight. Surprisingly, my dad consented and the two of us went inside for lunch while my mother sat outside on a seat, looking disgusted. I followed my dad’s lead and ordered steak and kidney pie and chips. It was OK”. (Cleveland, 2015)

The frame primarily focuses on immigrant groups and individuals. While describing the difficulties that Chinese immigrants face in integration, it inevitably touches upon their efforts to achieve assimilation. A report mentioned that a Chinese expatriate helps fellow compatriots integrate into the new culture by launching a Chinese portal website to introduce everything about Cyprus (Morley, 2018). This characteristic is also reflected in literary and film works. In the limited reports of this type, the newspapers always willingly recommend stories of Chinese immigrants integrating into the local area. In movies mentioned in the reports, such as Fresh off The Boat, the story revolves around Chinese immigrants in the 1990s persistently trying to blend into a foreign land, resiliently utilizing their unique wisdom and humor to resist and dissolve surrounding injustices.

Social frame

This frame focuses more on issues related to social life, such as economics education, specifically involving controversies in areas like employment, family and school education, consumption levels, social security, and public health. Therefore, this study defines the second frame as the Social Frame (the green section in Fig. 2, constituting 22% of the corpus). In the controversies, the issue of immigration itself, as a social process, presents two different facets.

On the one hand, some reports emphasize the positive impact of Chinese immigrants. For instance, former UK Education Secretary David Blunkett expressed that many immigrant families recognize education as the “lifeline to liberate talent,” encouraging British parents to have their children study alongside Chinese students, mutually enhancing academic achievements (Espinoza, 2015). Some reports affirm that today’s immigrant groups are well-educated and possess an entrepreneurial spirit.

On the other hand, another viewpoint emphasizes the negative impact of Chinese immigrants, perceiving them as a threat to various aspects of the home country’s society. Economically, some accuse Chinese immigrants of being unarmed invaders, claiming their arrival plunders job positions and social resources. In contrast, wealthy Chinese immigrant buyers have significantly driven up housing prices, causing losses for the locals (The Associated Press, 2015). After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese immigrants were seen as a public health threat, with the public blaming them for bringing the virus and the epidemic (Waldmeir, 2020).

Additionally, this frame includes descriptions of Asian immigrant women’s career anxieties and identity struggles, with immigrant women in a unique position encountering prejudices related to multiple aspects of social identity, such as gender and race (Tummala-Narra, 2011). For example, Tess Gerritsen wanted to become a writer, but this identity could not give her a sense of security as a Chinese–American immigrant (Schweitzer, 2015). Harry Potter actress Katie Leung spoke about how almost all of her roles are based on her race and skin color, which does not align with her expectations (McDonald, 2015).

Tess Gerritsen always wanted to be a writer but she had to become an anthropologist, a doctor, a wife, and a mother first. (Schweitzer, 2015)

Political frame

Given the inherently political nature of immigration issues, the reporting on Chinese immigrants encompasses a variety of political topics, including anti-immigration movements, Trump’s vitriolic speeches, citizenship, immigration policies, and anti-Chinese legislation. Therefore, this study defines the fourth frame as the Political Frame, represented in purple in Fig. 2 and comprising 30% of the corpus. Although scarcely mentioned in existing immigrant frame research, the political frame emerges as one of the most significant in this study. The newspaper coverage of Chinese immigrants primarily encompasses two aspects from a content perspective.

Firstly, it revolves around the political actions and impacts on immigration by former US President Trump. It is mainly manifested in policies and legislations introduced by the US government, with numerous reports reflecting a deliberate policy and regulatory bias against Chinese immigrants over the years (Kim, 2012). For instance, reports highlight how former President Trump leveraged anti-immigrant rhetoric to secure votes and implemented policy restrictions on Chinese immigrants, increasing negative discourse related to immigrants as elections approached (Dekeyser, Freedman (2021)). Discussions are also undertaken regarding the citizenship of second-generation Chinese immigrants and anti-Chinese regulations such as the Page Act and Chinese Exclusion Act.

Although the acts were controversial, most were allowed to expire in a few years, but the deportation law remains, even today. And their justification—that some or many immigrants were dangerous interlopers—has been invoked again and again. (Associated Press, 2017)

Secondly, through its reporting, the newspapers showcase an immigrant environment in Western countries characterized by Chinese immigrant protests and anti-immigrant movements. Various conflicts erupting between immigrants and between immigrants and residents are fundamentally rooted in the politicization of racial issues (Mangum, 2019), significantly impacting the societal environment. For example, conflicts between immigrants have erupted on the streets of Paris, with North African youths targeting Chinese immigrants. Collective protests by Asian community members were also sparked by an incident of police killing in Paris. The US is also grappling with immigrant issues, and recognizing the commonality of immigration issues, European newspapers reflect their stance and attitude through extensive negative reporting on Chinese immigrants in the US. Hence, this frame predominantly reflects the scrutinization and challenges Chinese immigrants face from the perspective of Western governments and political party organizations.

Crime frame

Based on quantitative results, qualitative analysis, and existing research, the third frame (the blue section in Fig. 2, accounting for 18% of the corpus) aligns with the definition of a crime frame (Igartua and Cheng, 2009). In times of crisis, many articles perceive immigrants as a threat and closely associate them with crime (Holzberg et al., 2018). Against the backdrop of the immigration crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, this frame involves crime incidents related to Chinese immigrants, such as violence and murder, as well as numerous reports on events of illegal immigrants being arrested or dying. The study found that European newspapers often use the word illegal to describe Chinese immigrants; the term illegal appears 243 times in the articles, and the co-occurrence of illegal & Chinese immigrants is 91 times. Through this frame, the newspapers present a scenario of rising social crime rates brought about by immigrants, which can easily trigger public perception and concern about the danger of immigrants, thereby leading to anti-immigrant sentiment (Amores et al., 2020).

Chinese migrants pay Mexican gangs £50,000 EACH to get them across the US border. The number of Chinese caught by border patrol officers has spiked over the last few months, with more than 680 captured between October and May (mirror.co.uk, 2016)

Illegal immigrants caught at Chinese takeaway (News Letter, 2016)

Chinese immigrants demand protection from Paris muggers (telegraph.co.uk, 2016)

Moreover, statistically, in the 194 reports related to the crime frame, Chinese immigrants are depicted as innocent victims in 105 reports, accounting for 54.12%. In these reports, they become victims typically due to the influence of racial discrimination and prejudice. For instance, French newspapers often report robberies and attacks against Chinese immigrants, perceiving them as easy targets (WEMAËRE, 2016; FRANCE 24, 2017).

Discussion

Three images of Chinese immigrants shaped by European newspapers

This study, through the use of ANTMN, discerns that the media framing of Chinese immigrants in European newspapers mainly falls into four categories: integration frame, social frame, political frame, and crime frame. This research, which combines the text of newspaper reports, posits that European newspapers have shaped three images of Chinese immigrants, summarized as Failed Integrators, Targets of Political Attack, and Disruptors of Social Safety.

Failed integrators: the adaptation conflict between immigrants themselves and local societies

Entering the 21st century, with the continuous increase in the number of foreign immigrants and refugees, issues such as terrorism, extremism, and religious conflict have emerged incessantly, prompting European countries to re-examine their multicultural policies, gradually shifting towards a policy orientation that emphasizes integration (Jung-Eun, 2012). This policy shift has been prominently reflected in the reporting on immigrants in European newspapers, transitioning from emphasizing the cultural diversity brought by immigrants to describing how immigrants integrate into local societies. In this process, the integration dilemma faced by Chinese immigrants has also begun to stand out. These dilemmas are mainly manifested in two aspects:

Firstly, European newspapers generally believe that Chinese immigrants cannot achieve proper integration and cannot fully fuse with the host country. Although Chinese immigrants can usually integrate well economically, their integration process in daily life does not always conform to the traditional linear model (Zhou and Yang, 2021). At the same time, Chinese immigrants often have a powerful sense of identification with their home country’s society (Lin et al., 2021). They tend to adopt Chinese or Asian lifestyles and actively participate in transnational networks for information exchange and social activities (Lu et al., 2011), bringing them various opportunities and conveniences. However, policymakers in the host country often view the close connection of transnational immigrants with their homeland as a symbol of social and political disconnection, thereby weakening their social contribution to the host country (Ren and Liu, 2015). In contrast, second-generation immigrants usually show more vital adaptive abilities. Whether in dietary habits, language, or identification with the value order of the immigrant country, they have a higher tolerance for assimilation (Zhou, 2014), while immigrant parents often feel at a loss in the face of this cultural adaptation gap.

Secondly, the hostility exhibited by local societies towards Chinese immigrants makes their integration difficult. Integration is a bidirectional process where background, socio-economic characteristics, and race, among other factors, play a pivotal role (Zhou and Yang, 2021). Research indicates that the overall attitude of European societies toward Chinese immigrants tends to be negative (Gravelle, 2018) and has become even more hostile following the COVID-19 pandemic (Stolte et al., 2022). Chinese immigrants often face discrimination due to their skin color, accent, and religious beliefs and may even become targets of violent attacks stemming from racial discrimination and anti-Asian sentiment (Hoffman and Hanneman, 2023). The integration process depends not only on the adaptive desire and capability of the immigrants themselves but also on the acceptance level of the residents in the host country (Zahl-Thanem and Haugen, 2019). The hostility from European societies could pose a significant barrier to the successful integration of Chinese immigrants into local communities.

To overcome these integration challenges, Chinese immigrants have made substantial efforts to integrate, addressing discrimination issues (Yu et al., 2016). Although European newspapers have acknowledged these integration efforts to some extent, their impact has been limited. Firstly, numerous experimental studies conducted in the United States have focused on exploring how media cues (including elements of race, group, or extremism) trigger shifts in racial attitudes. These studies commonly operate under the premise that negative stories typically provoke significant negative reactions, whereas positive stories tend to have a comparatively limited effect on improving public attitudes toward minority ethnic groups (Brader et al., 2008; Cho et al., 2006). In other words, negative media depictions may ignite or amplify negative public perceptions towards a particular ethnic group, while the positive impact brought by affirmative descriptions is usually more restrained. Therefore, even if the media widely reports on the positive efforts of Chinese immigrants to integrate into local societies, the negative impact possibly resulting from reports about their integration and adaptation difficulties may still be more pronounced. Secondly, many newspapers have widely adopted and expanded the traditional stigmatization norm of labeling immigrants (Tong and Zuo, 2019). By associating specific ethnicities or groups with negative stereotypes, this conventional stigmatization norm further reinforces the negative perception of Chinese immigrants. Notably, the aim of these newspapers is not to psychologically convince the public to accept Chinese immigrants but to display their difficulties as evidence that Chinese immigrants cannot genuinely integrate into European societies, thereby providing a rationale for resisting Chinese immigrants. Newspapers utilize these negative stereotypes to call for restrictions or exclusion of immigrants, thereby creating a resistance sentiment towards immigrants among the public. This approach may further exacerbate the integration difficulties of Chinese immigrants in European societies, making it difficult for them to escape the stigmatization predicament. It may even affect their social status and rights in the host countries.

Political attack target: the resistance and exclusion of Chinese immigrants

This image is derived from the research results of the political frame, a concept that has not been mainly focused on in previous research into immigrant framing. Previous studies introduced frames related to political issues, including liberation, restriction, and conflict frameworks. The liberation frame focuses on the direction and status of immigrants, emphasizing that national policies and arrangements should support immigrants in integrating into society and achieving liberation (Roggeband and Vliegenthart, 2007). The restriction frame views the entry of new immigrants as a problem, advocating for the control of entry through the restriction of permits. The conflict frame focuses on conflicts between individuals, groups, or institutions (Neuman et al., 1992), attracting audience interest, often used in presidential election news. However, these frames show contradictory reporting tendencies. The liberation frame conflicts with the political framework, the restriction frame mainly focuses on new immigrants who are economically dependent, and the conflict frame simplifies complicated political debates into straightforward bilateral competitions. Since the existing frames cannot accurately cover the content of the last frame in this study, this research adopts a broader concept of the political frame.

The political frame was not individually highlighted in previous research but is introduced as a distinct frame in this study for several primary reasons. On the one hand, crises in actual society can challenge journalistic norms, prompting the media to grant more attention and new interpretations of immigration issues (Horsti, 2008). The immigration crisis of 2015 rendered the immigration issues more urgent, actions from the government on immigration became more frequent, and immigration issues also became a vital factor influencing electoral votes. Media reports reflect the manifestation of real crises and the approach to addressing crisis issues. On the other hand, political issues have been involved in previous studies (Genovese, 2023; Jeesun and Wayne, 2018; Kathleen and Peter, 2019). Still, since they are usually diluted into others, such as liberation frames, restriction frames, or multiculturalism frames, they have not been separately delineated for discussion. Even in this study, while we have isolated political issues into a frame from the reports, it doesn’t imply that issues in other frames are unrelated to politics. The political frame extracted in this study encompasses the bidirectional impact between Chinese immigrants and politics, how Chinese immigrants influence the political ecology of the host country, and how politics, in turn, shape the circumstances of Chinese immigrants.

On the one hand, the content of reports from the European newspapers chosen for this study reflects the impact of Chinese immigrants on the host country’s politics. Firstly, the issue of immigration itself has a significant impact on European politics. In Europe, immigration policy has always been the epicenter of large-scale public protests and ongoing political debates. The reason is international immigration policies, which seem to be formulated based on a country’s national interests, result from the political interplay among various political forces within a country, among multiple countries, and even at regional and global levels (Lozano et al., 2014). The choices made regarding accepting immigrants considering cultural, religious, and linguistic differences bring about political disagreements and ethnic conflicts in European countries. Secondly, an increasing number of Chinese immigrants have realized from their own experiences that participating in politics and policy-making is the most effective way to safeguard their rights and interests. The earliest political participation by Chinese people in Europe began in the UK. New Chinese immigrants have also performed well in this respect in countries like France, Italy, and Spain. For example, in 2019, Hazel Chu, a daughter of Chinese immigrants, broke the record in her first election, becoming the first Chinese-descent councilor elected in Ireland. Moreover, establishing the Orange Club to oppose school admissions based on race and similar Chinese rights organizations is starting to attract the attention of legislators and influence policy debates.

On the other hand, the anti-immigrant tendency presented in European newspapers reflects the unfavorable political position of Chinese immigrants. With the outbreak of the refugee crisis, several European countries are facing a heavier economic burden. The influx of many refugees has exacerbated existing social conflicts, further fueling anti-refugee sentiment (Satinsky et al., 2019). Under this background, the social contributions brought by immigrants are often overlooked, governments pay more attention to the problems that might be triggered by immigrants, and the restrictiveness of immigration policies is increasingly strengthened, which has become a common trend in the immigration policies of major European countries, and Chinese immigrants are inevitably affected. Furthermore, in Europe, the exclusion and hostility towards Chinese immigrants have also not decreased in other Western countries, especially evident in the policies of former US President Trump and the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Social safety disrupters: depicting crime events to intensify fear

European newspapers link Chinese immigrants to crime, fostering public stereotypes about them. Consistent with previous research findings, the media often use a crime frame to report on immigrants, aiming to stir panic among the populace (Milioni et al., 2015). Although several studies have found no link between immigrants and higher crime rates in society (Lee et al., 2001), this association has been widely disseminated in media, political, and public discourse (Ousey and Kubrin, 2018).

Within the crime frame, Chinese immigrants are often initially portrayed as perpetrators of crime. These reports typically depict them as individuals arrested by police for illegal immigration and criminal activities. In media portrayals, the most prominent characteristic of Chinese immigrants tends to be their “illegal” status, emphasizing words like “illegal,” “smuggling,” and “trafficking” and associating these with immigrants’ criminal behaviors, aiming to reveal social crime problems sparked by illegal Chinese immigrants (Wang, 2001). Moreover, since the anti-immigrant attitude of Europeans is primarily rooted in their concerns about illegal immigration (Canan-Sokullu, 2019), such reports might further strengthen anti-immigrant sentiments in society. Secondly, the media’s overemphasis on “illegal” intensifies anti-immigrant sentiments and makes Chinese immigrants victims of prejudice and discrimination. The 1982 incident in which Vincent Chin was beaten to death received widespread attention and reporting in the media. Decades later, the media once again focused on violent incidents against Chinese immigrants, especially against the COVID-19 pandemic, the breakdown of US-China relations, and the surge of anti-Asian hate crimes across the United States, where many Chinese immigrants became innocent victims.

However, whether Chinese immigrants appear as perpetrators or victims of crime, they are invariably associated with criminality in the media, undoubtedly deepening the public’s stereotypes about this group (Timberlake et al., 2015) and, to some extent, exacerbating negative emotions in society. When analyzing reports on the reasons for attacks on Chinese immigrants, European media often neglect to explore the background and motives of the attackers in-depth, likely sidestepping sensitive issues related to racial discrimination (a core issue in all frameworks of this research). It may be related to the complex relationship between racial prejudice and hate crimes, where the former often catalyzes the latter (Lee et al., 2001). To some degree, this reporting strategy links Chinese immigrants to racial issues, creating an impression of potential danger. Therefore, European media, through their crime reporting on Chinese immigrants, not only reinforce perceptions of their potential threat but also exacerbate racial prejudice, thereby negatively impacting overall public opinion and attitudes (Boomgaarden and Vliegenthart, 2009; Jacobs et al., 2016; Schemer, 2012).

Testing frame changes: reduced crime frame fails to alter the negative perception of Chinese immigrants

Moreover, through a yearly analysis of the frames used in European newspapers’ reports on Chinese immigrants from 2015–2022, it was found that the immigrant frame has been overall stable without showing significant changes. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the immigrant frame, notably reflected in the crime frame. The study found that using the crime frame declines during crises. From 2015 to 2019, the network relationship graph of immigrant frames showed a high co-occurrence of the crime frame with other themes, consistent with previous research findings, indicating that the immigration crisis has made crime reports about Chinese immigrants more common in European media. However, from 2020 onwards, the crime frame has gradually been marginalized in the network relationship graph, weakening its co-occurrence with other themes, and this status continued until the end of 2022, when Europe lifted COVID-19 controls. This study believes that this change is related to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic for the following reasons: first, frame evolution is a social construction process influenced by journalistic conventions and triggering events (Chen et al., 2022), and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide in 2020 coincides with the year when the frame changed. Second, the COVID-19 pandemic is a significant public health event affecting all levels of society and the nation (Kortukova et al., 2020) and, therefore, has enough influence to cause changes in news frames. Third, through a review of the reported text, it was found that European newspapers began to pay attention to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic after 2020 and presented the fact that the pandemic has strengthened prejudice against Chinese immigrants in their reports.

Previous research indicates that frames are not static. Changes in news framing reflect significant public, legislative, and commercial events (Sheshadri et al., 2021). In this study, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the use of the immigrant crime frame, manifested explicitly in its reduced co-occurrence with other frames and a trend toward marginalization in the network relationship graph. This finding is consistent with the results of Serafini et al. (2023), which showed a reduction in risk narratives about immigrants when the coronavirus became an “internal” threat to the nation. The COVID-19 crisis is a global issue with direct, tangible dimensions (people’s health and illness) rather than an abstract issue like the climate crisis (concerning the rights of future generations). Therefore, when society encounters genuine risks that urgently need to be addressed, the media’s anti-immigrant communication diminishes, thereby affecting the usage of the crime frame. Although the media weakened the crime frame, the cause triggering this change is the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which, in turn, intensified prejudices against Chinese immigrants (Zingora et al., 2023). Thus, this change represents merely a shift in the focus of media reporting, not a transformation in reporting inclination, and fortifies the existing frame structure.

Conclusion

The study underscores a multifaceted representation of Chinese immigrants in European newspapers, with predominant frames shaping specific images that inform and possibly perpetuate societal attitudes and policy inclinations. The findings illuminate how the Integration, Social, Political, and Crime frames sculpt the images of Chinese immigrants as Failed Integrators, Targets of Political Attack, and Disruptors of Social Safety, respectively. Notably, the media often spotlight the challenges and conflicts related to integration, portray them within socio-economic controversies, politicize their existence and actions, and associate them with criminality, thereby influencing public perceptions and policy debates concerning immigration and multiculturalism.

The interplay between media frames and the emergence of crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, reveals a shift in framing priorities without necessarily mitigating the negative inclination in reporting. Despite the diminished usage of the Crime frame during the pandemic, the prevailing prejudice against Chinese immigrants was exacerbated, suggesting that the triggers of frame alterations do not always align with a positive shift in reporting tendencies. This research underscores the pivotal role of media frames in steering public opinion and potentially impacting policy-making processes, thereby highlighting the importance of mindful, nuanced, and empathetic journalism in multicultural societies.

Given the recognized influence of media frames in shaping societal attitudes towards Chinese immigrants, future research might explore the causal relationships between media framing, public opinion, and policy-making to provide further insights into the dynamics of media influence in multicultural contexts. Additionally, comparative analyses across different media outlets, nations, and immigrant groups might unveil varied framing strategies and their societal implications, thereby contributing to a comprehensive understanding of global media framing of immigrants.

Limitations and future research

This study has certain limitations. Firstly, to ensure the high relevance of the text content to the issue of Chinese immigration, a total of 360 news reports were selected, resulting in a limited sample size for the research. It represents only a fraction of the media’s portrayal of immigration and its narratives. Secondly, the study analyzed all European newspapers without distinguishing between specific newspapers or countries. Thus, it cannot guarantee an even distribution of samples across every country/newspaper in Europe. It suggests that future research could involve a larger sample size and include a broader range of news media, social media, and samples from different countries. Additionally, a detailed longitudinal analysis of the evolution of frameworks after 2015 needs to be explored further.