Does Starbucks Belong In The Forbidden City?

"Jiang Hongbin, who represents Heilongjiang Province, has proposed a motion to "immediately move Starbucks out of the Forbidden City" to National People's Congress, according to the Xinhua news agency.

"Starbucks must move out of the imperial palace immediately, and it can no longer be allowed to taint China's national culture," said Jiang, as cited by the Xinhua news agency, on the sidelines of the legislature's annual session.

The 720,000-square-meter (0.3 square mile) Forbidden City in Beijing, which attracts 7 million tourists a year, was home to 24 emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasties for a period beginning in the early 15th century and running through the 1920s.

Starbucks was invited by the management company that oversees the site to open its outlet in September 2000. The cafe, the smallest Starbucks shop, was located in a tiny lounge where Qing officials gathered before meeting the emperor.

Rent paid by Starbucks is used for maintenance of the palace. Yet the U.S.-based coffee chain has been criticized before for affecting the historic and cultural heritage of Forbidden City and was ordered to remove its green logo in 2005."

Defenders point out that other retailers operate in the complex, and that the company is unfairly being targeted.