Cross-Platform Short-Video Diplomacy: Topic and Sentiment Analysis of China-US Relations on Douyin and TikTok

2025-10-25

AI Summary

This study investigates public discourse on U.S.–China relations across Douyin (China) and TikTok (U.S.), addressing how geopolitical narratives diverge across platforms and regions. Methodologically, it analyzes 4,040 videos and 338,000 comments using unsupervised topic modeling, fine-grained sentiment analysis, and multivariate spatial regression integrating geolocated socioeconomic indicators—including per capita GDP, internet penetration, and ethnic diversity indices—leveraging platform-mandated user location data for the first time to enable precise geo-referenced sentiment mapping. Key contributions include: (1) identification of pronounced affective polarization around critical technological issues (e.g., semiconductors, AI governance); (2) empirical evidence that Chinese users’ sentiment toward the U.S. is jointly moderated by local economic development and societal openness, exhibiting significant provincial heterogeneity; and (3) establishment of a novel, geographically anchored quantitative framework for cross-national digital diplomacy research.

Technology Category

• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Natural Language Processing: Discourse, Pragmatics & Argument Mining
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Geometric, Spatial, and Temporal Reasoning

Application Category

• Social Networks and Social Media: Media and governance, opinion dynamics, filter bubbles, polarization
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Sentiment analysis and opinion mining
• Security and Privacy: Data transparency and provenance

Abstract

We examine discussions surrounding China-U.S. relations on the Chinese and American social media platforms extit{Douyin} and extit{TikTok}. Both platforms, owned by extit{ByteDance}, operate under different regulatory and cultural environments, providing a unique perspective for analyzing China-U.S. public discourse. This study analyzed 4,040 videos and 338,209 user comments to assess the public discussions and sentiments on social media regarding China-U.S. relations. Through topic clustering and sentiment analysis, we identified key themes, including economic strength, technological and industrial interdependence, cultural cognition and value pursuits, and responses to global challenges. There are significant emotional differences between China and the US on various themes. Since April 2022, the Chinese government has implemented a new regulation requiring all social media accounts to disclose their provincial-level geolocation information. Utilizing this publicly available data, along with factors such as GDP per capita, minority index, and internet penetration rate, we investigate the changes in sentiment towards the U.S. in mainland China. This study links socioeconomic indicators with online discussions, deeply analyzing how regional and economic factors influence Chinese comments on their views of the US, providing important insights for China-U.S. relationship research and policy making.

Problem

• Analyzes China-US relations discourse on Douyin and TikTok platforms
• Examines sentiment differences between Chinese and American social media users
• Investigates how regional socioeconomic factors shape Chinese views of US

Innovation

• Topic clustering for identifying key discussion themes
• Sentiment analysis to compare emotional differences
• Linking socioeconomic indicators with online sentiment changes