No harm in Little Apple's global gloss

The latest Chinese "god song" (an Internet term to describe pop songs that spread virally through Internet) is still stirring fierce debate between those who view it as a milestone for Chinese pop music going global and those who regard it as bad for China's image.

On Sunday, Little Apple, written and performed by the Chopsticks Brothers, won the AMA International Song Award and the duo performed the song at the 2014 American Music Awards in Los Angeles. Another Chinese pop singer, Zhang Jie, won the International Artist Award.

But while fans of these singers are hailing the awards and the performance by the Chopsticks Brothers at the AMA gala as significant, there are others who are less enthused. They have questioned the value of the awards and what effect it will have on Chinese culture's "going abroad", claiming it may leave foreign audiences with a poor impression of Chinese pop music, and even Chinese contemporary culture.