A contrastive ecological discourse analysis of the General Debate statements by the US and China at the United Nations General Assembly (2017–2020)

Abstract This article adopts an ecolinguistic approach to study the thematic choices in General Debate statements by US and China at United Nations Assembly (2017–2020) reveal eco-characteristics of two countries’ their impacts on constructions international relations. Findings suggest that, from perspective ecosophy, a significant proportion US’s are destructive relations, while China’s mostly beneficial ambivalent. The frequently used portray “us versus them” “America first”, which displays message egocentrism instead ecocentrism. typically show willingness undertake global responsibility jointly work with other stakeholders safeguard our planet, echoing vision “building shared future for mankind”.