Chinese pavilion rekindles debate over copycat reputation

SHANGHAI – Call it coincidence or just another example of China’s "shanzhai culture," but people are starting to notice that the signature Chinese pavilion at Expo 2010 bears more than a passing resemblance to the Canadian pavilion at Montreal’s Expo ’67.

The number of shanzhai or copycat products that come out of China is legend, but everyone naturally expected a national project like the Shanghai Expo, which opens May 1, to be a notable exception.

The trouble started more than a week ago when Expo organizers were confronted with suspicions that a high profile promotional song advertising the World’s Fair featuring action hero/singer Jackie Chan and a host of other Chinese stars, 2010 Waiting for You, borrowed freely from a 13-year-old Japanese tune, Stay the Way You Are, by Mayo Okamoto.

Expo organizers did not actually admit plagiarism, but they hastily pulled the song from the airwaves because of "copyright issues," according to their website.

The next potential shanzhai problem came to light at a press conference late last week when an American reporter noted the similarity between the Expo mascot Haibao and Gumby, the title character in a cartoon series that ran on North American television for 35 years, starting in 1957.

One member of the Haibao design team denied any hint of plagiarism, telling the Global Times newspaper he’d never heard of Gumby until this ruckus began. But, once again Expo organizers didn’t exactly deny the shanzhai effect. "Haibao was unveiled a long time ago," Xu Wei, an Expo spokesperson said. "If anyone thinks that it violates some sort of copyright, then why is the issue only being addressed now?"

Questions about the design of the giant red Chinese pavilion were raised at the same press conference by the same American reporter, but she compared it to the Japanese pavilion at the 1992 World’s Fair in Seville, Spain. The resemblance she noted is definitely there, but once again Xu dismissed the shanzhai idea. The only similarity is that both pavilions used an ancient Asian style of design, he said.

People with longer memories are now taking a new look at the Canadian pavilion at the Montreal’s Expo ’67, and noting its obvious similarity with the China pavilion, too.

Asian influence again? Not likely. Built by Roderick Robbie and called Katimavik – meeting place, in Inuit – the Canada pavilion has for more than 40 years been considered quintessentially Canadian.