Intensified efforts

Another key historic event this year was the 16th Asian Games in the Guangdong provincial capital of Guangzhou, which ended with the host nation wrapping up a record 199 gold medals.

Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, president of the Olympic Council of Asia, hailed the Guangzhou Asiad "a huge success" and "one of the most outstanding" in history.

It seems Chinese officials had reached a consensus that 2010 was a year when intensified efforts should be devoted to boosting China's image.

The State Council Information Office shot its first national publicity film before National Day on October 1, almost a year after the country launched a 30-second commercial on CNN and BBC as part of a global "Made in China" advertising campaign.

The Chinese government and society had not done enough to enhance the country's image, and it was "high time for the country to create a national image," said Li Xiangyang, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in August, commenting on the film.

Some 50 celebrities including the country's first astronaut Yang Liwei, NBA basketball player Yao Ming and Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing presented China as "a dynamic country."

Xiong, the professor of ethnic theory and policy, looks on the rosy side.

"Generally speaking, China's image in 2010 was positive," he says. "It brought hope and courage to the world when many countries were suffering from the worldwide economic crisis."

However, the year hasn't been all good for China's image overseas.

As the country becomes more assertive diplomatically, experts point out that it's hardly surprising if other countries become resentful, perhaps even jealous of its rise.

Interest over image

A US ambassador privately accused China in a classified cable leaked by Wikileaks of "muscle-flexing, triumphalism and assertiveness," describing Beijing's "newly pugnacious" foreign policy as "losing friends worldwide," the Guardian reported.

China's high-profile confrontation with Japan over the disputed Diaoyu Islands - islands the Japanese call the Senkaku - might be cited as an example of the kind of pugnacious stance the US ambassador may have been talking about.

The islands' sensitive geography explains a lot about the problem. The island group consists of five uninhabited islets and three barren rocks about 200 nautical miles east of the Chinese mainland and 200 nautical miles southwest of the Japanese island of Okinawa. They are 120 nautical miles northeast of the Chinese province of Taiwan.

Two Japanese coast guard patrol boats and a Chinese fishing boat collided in waters off the islands on September 7. No injuries were reported, but Japan's coast guard arrested the captain of the fishing boat over China's protests, Xinhua reported.

The Chinese government summoned the Japanese ambassador and twice lodged solemn representations within 24 hours. After being detained for 17 days, the captain was freed.

China's defensive actions drew ire from the Japanese public. According to a poll published on October 4 by Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's largest circulated newspaper, about 84 percent of Japanese believe China is "untrustworthy" by "acting belligerently."

Some Chinese scholars believe China should take a nonchalant attitude toward such accusation.

"It's not time for China to consider its image yet, but time to defend and fight for its interests," says Shen Yi, a Fudan University professor at the department of international politics.

"Even though Japan caused this trouble, it could be an opportunity for China on issues like developing oil and gas fields in the East China Sea and moderately strengthening its sea power," Shen says.

Peng Guangqian, a specialist in military strategy at the People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Science, says the incident turned out to be an opportunity for China.

"China has to realize that good wishes are not enough to maintain regional peace and stability," he says. "China needs to develop itself first. Concessions are no solution to any problem."