Constructing national identity in public health crises: a comparative DHA study of China and the United States (2003-2023).

This study examines how China and the United States construct national identity in multilateral settings during public health crises through strategic discourse. Drawing on National Identity Theory and the Discourse Historical Approach (DHA), it analyzes speeches delivered at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) from 2003 to 2023, covering multiple crises including SARS, H1N1, Ebola, HIV/AIDS, and COVID-19. Through a longitudinal and cross-crisis comparative analysis, the study reveals evolving discursive patterns that reflect shifting self-other dynamics in global health governance. China consistently constructs an identity as a cooperative, responsible major power through inclusive and multilateral language, while the United States exhibits greater variation across administrations, often framing its identity through alliance-centered and leading position. By bridging discourse-historical analysis with corpus-based methods, this research offers one of the first systematic cross-crisis comparisons of identity construction in global health diplomacy. It highlights how crises serve as critical junctures for nations to redefine their international roles, providing insights into the communicative foundations of global health governance.