BEIJING: A member of parliament is the latest to attempt to kick Starbucks out of the Forbidden City.
Jiang Hongbin said he submitted a motion to the National People’s Congress to close the outlet immediately, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The outlet has been a source of controversy since it opened at the end of 2000. The nearly 600-year-old Forbidden City was the Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties and is now a museum.
“The Forbidden City is one of the non-tradable products as its value cannot be measured in monetary terms,” media reports quoted Jiang as saying. “As long as it stays in the Imperial Palace, it poses a challenge to our traditional culture.”
Starbucks’ fate will be decided as part of a renovation that already has seen one-third of the shops removed from the 178-acre palace.
Starbucks recently issued a statement defending its operation.
“Starbucks appreciates the deep history and culture of the Forbidden City and has operated in a respectful manner that fits within the environment,” the statement said. “We have provided a welcome place of rest for thousands of tourists, both Chinese and foreign, for more than six years.”
