Unlocking China's digital public diplomacy on X: A machine learning approach to big data analysis in Iran and Saudi...

Public diplomacy is now a powerful instrument for shaping national narratives and influencing sentiments around the world in the era of digital globalization. This paper provides a comparative analysis of China's X-related digital public diplomacy initiatives in Saudi Arabia and Iran, emphasizing how they support China's national image through the Belt and Road Initiative. The study used machine learning methods to examine a dataset comprising 15,482 (Saudi Arabia) and 13,057 (Iran) tweets that were gathered from official government, media, and embassy accounts between 2021 and 2023. The study examines engagement metrics to gain insights into the reach and power of China's narratives. Sentiment analysis using NLP is used to identify differences in public perceptions of China, while topic modeling using LDA reveals nation specific message strategies and the influence of influencers on discourse. The findings shed light on how China's digital diplomacy responds to the geopolitical environments of Saudi Arabia and Iran, emphasizing differences in public perception, engagement, and thematic focus. The current study has practical implications for policymakers navigating the challenges of international image building in the digital age, as well as theoretically expanding the conceptual boundaries of soft power by investigating the use of digital platform X as a tool of influence within the framework of the Belt and Road initiative.