Can a political campaign ad be hoist by its own petard?

We wrote last week about how “Chinese Professor,” a Hollywood-quality U.S. campaign ad depicting a dystopian future in which China rules the global economy, had raised the bar for China-bashing political messages. Now, after attempting to stifle a parody of the ad, the group that funded it, Citizens Against Government Waste, stands accused of taking a page out of Beijing’s own political handbook.

For those who missed it, the original ad – apparently inspired by a similar Reagan-era spot directed by Ridley Scott – shows a group of Chinese economics students in the year 2030 laughing victoriously as their professor explains how deficit spending and health-care reform doomed the U.S.

In the parody, produced by the liberal group Campus Progress, the subtitles have been altered to deliver a different message.

Instead of asking “Why do great nations fail?,” as he does in the original, the professor in the Campus Progress version begins his lecture by saying, “I was told I would be speaking to Latinos, but you look Asian to me” – an apparent reference to comments Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle made to a group of Hispanic school children earlier this month.

The remixed subtitles also have the professor refer to another Republican gaffe when he ends his lecture by quoting Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell, whose controversial history with witchcraft led her to proclaim in a recent political ad, “I’m not a witch. I’m you.”

In between, the ad proffers an attack on the influence of big money in U.S. politics, with the professor proclaiming his excitement that “the ones who drove America’s economy to the brink may be on the verge of reclaiming power.” Corporate interests friendly to China, he says, could once again dominate the U.S. “And that will be awesome for us.”

Shortly after the Campus Progress version of “Chinese Professor” hit YouTube, CAGW issued a statement saying the parody violated its copyright and asked YouTube to take it down. YouTube complied.

In a statement released yesterday, Campus Progress representative Katie Andriulli took issue with CAGW’s tactics:

“Our video is not a copyright violation. It is a parody, addressing a matter of public policy, and is protected free speech. Our purpose is to raise awareness on the issues, and to highlight the concern of young people that corporate interests threaten to drown out their voices. The expensive CAGW video and ad campaign, and CAGW’s subsequent effort to use legal maneuvering to thwart debate, show that those concerns are warranted.”

Andriulli continued in a separate statement on the Campus Progress Action website, describing CAGW’s copyright claim as “trumped-up” and a humorless attempt to stifle criticism.

“Considering CAGW’s fear of Chinese policies to that effect,” she wrote, “we find this to be pretty ironic.”

It’s noteworthy the Campus Progress ad does little to address the China-bashing at work in CAGW’s ad; it simply adds the specter of corporate influence to the Chinese gloating about what will “be awesome for us” — making it arguably just as guilty of fanning Yellow Horde fears.

In comments to the Washington Post’s 44 blog, Chinese embassy spokesman Wang Baodong issued a blanket condemnation of the entire genre.

“It’s unreasonable to blame China for America’s own economic problems,” the blog quotes him as saying, “and it’s even despicable to fan up anti-China sensations, which runs counter to common inspirations of our two peoples.”

For all the effect his comments are likely to have on the current election cycle, Wang may just as well have said “I’m not a Chinese government spokesman. I’m you.”