While past public crises were addressed by focusing on protecting the public safety and maintaining public order, public crises today, such as the COVID-19 outbreak, require different responses and face more challenges. Crisis Communication in China examines crisis communication strategies taken by the Chinese government during public crises and discusses how the public react to these strategies, exploring the cultural context and the development of digital media as critical factors underlying the strategies adopted.
Much of the previous research on crisis communication in China adopted Coombs- Situational Crisis Communication Theory. However, as a theory proposed and developed in the West, its application in a non-Western culture requires testing. In addition, cultural influences and the role of digital technology have been discussed in some existing literature, but few studies have attempted to integrate these elements into crisis communication theories. In order to
