Chinese ads aim to soften image in U.S., doubts remain

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama welcome President of China Hu Jintao for a State Dinner at the White House in Washington, January 19, 2011.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Seeking to soften its image among Americans, China has paid for a promotional video to appear on six giant screens in New York's Times Square and on CNN, but experts doubt the campaign will change perceptions in the United States.

The launch of the one-minute video, which state-run news agency Xinhua called part of a "public diplomacy campaign," coincides with President Hu Jintao's state visit to the United States.

It is China's latest effort to bolster its so-called "soft power" -- exerting influence through culture and lifestyle rather than coercion, experts said.

The advertisement features a wide range of Chinese people -- including basketball star Yao Ming, pianist Lang Lang, astronaut Yang Liwei, supermodels and ordinary, smiling citizens -- in a video with banners touting Chinese wealth, talent, bravery and beauty.

China, whose use of soft power began in earnest when it hosted the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, is spending billions of dollars to boost its image abroad including through Confucius Institutes that teach Chinese language and culture, according to Joseph Nye, a Harvard University professor of international relations.

Confucius Institutes are located in various places around the world, including in the United States.

"This campaign (the promotional videos) is consistent with their soft power efforts," Nye said. "It's useful for them to do, but I don't think it will have a huge effect."

Nye said such campaigns are undercut by China's actions like jailing human rights activist Liu Xiaobo, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year.

Thomas Cromwell, an expert who specializes in nation "branding," said Americans already are exposed to many messages that have shaped their perceptions about China.

"A simple rebranding of this nature is not likely to achieve significant changes in perception," said Cromwell, president of Washington-based East West Communications.

"The campaign does not address the core international concerns about China, even tangentially."

Opinion polls indicate that Americans are split in their views of China, with concern expressed about Chinese human rights practices, trade policies and environmental record.

A Pew Research Center poll this month found that just 22 percent of Americans called China an "adversary" but 43 percent saw it as a "serious problem." An earlier Pew poll found that 49 percent of Americans express a favorable opinion of China, while 36 percent felt unfavorably.

CHINA AS A THREAT

Ahead of last November's U.S. congressional elections, some politicians aired campaign ads portraying China as a threat.

U.S. lawmakers accuse China of keeping its exports artificially cheap and taking U.S. jobs. The United States also wants China to allow its currency, the yuan, to rise more rapidly to help shrink Washington's trade deficit.

Countries often pay to air television advertisements in other nations to try to bolster their image to attract tourists and investment. For example, after the Balkan conflicts in the 1990s, Croatia promoted its beaches and quaint towns to rebrand itself as a tourist destination.

The Chinese video will be shown 300 times daily in Times Square until February 14 and will run on CNN, the cable television news network, through February 13, according to Xinhua.

Reactions of people who saw the video on giant screens by a plaza in Times Square where tourists come to buy Broadway show tickets were mixed.

"They are just like us," Mike Walsh, 53, from Baltimore, who was in New York to go to a Broadway show, said after seeing the video.

Donna Perluke, 47, from New Jersey said that while the video projected a positive image of China she could not ignore "how they treat their own people."

Sun Tie, 53, who said he recently moved to New York from China, came to Times Square especially to see the ad. "I'm very happy because China looks very handsome," he said.

(Editing by Mark Egan and Will Dunham)