APDS Blogger: Chen Chen

WORLD Expo 2010 Shanghai China is about to unfurl its wonders. Following the success of the Beijing Olympic Games, our nation will present the world with another successful, exciting and unforgettable event. This World Expo will be a golden opportunity for China to show itself to the world to the fullest extent and for the rest of the world to better understand China.

Despite widespread talk of a rising China and a declining America, the latest BBC World Service poll shows not just strong residual American soft power but actually an increase. At the same time, the numbers depict a China whose influence is viewed as more negative than positive in a growing number of countries.

While China practices harsh media control at home, it has embarked on a major campaign abroad to present itself as a modernizing and open nation.

China is likely to stake out a position between the big nuclear weapons states and the non-nuclear-armed countries at an international conference next month, a prominent Swedish think tank said on Monday.

Beijing's new response is typically massive and ambitious: a $6.6 billion global strategy to create media giants that will challenge agenda-setting Western behemoths such as Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., the BBC and CNN. The stations don't broadcast outright propaganda but rather programming with a Chinese focus and flavor, tailored for local audiences.

The Ottawa-born Rowswell is famous throughout China as a comedian and television commentator and he’s one of Canada’s secret weapons in its bid to create a buzz at what is almost certainly the largest nation-branding event ever staged.

Many countries are willing to go that extra mile to impress the Chinese, but the Danes may have topped them all. On Sunday, Denmark unveiled its well-known statue of the Little Mermaid at the unofficial opening ceremony for its Shanghai Expo pavilion.