Japan and China in East Asian Integration

19. With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

356 Japan and China CHAPTER 19 With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility1 When Chinese President Hu Jintao made an official visit to the United States in April 2006, he was invited to a reception held in his honor at the home of Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates. It was most uncommon for the top leader of a major power to visit the residence of an executive of a private company. According to reports, also present at the party was Howard Schultz, chairman of the U.S.-based international coffee shop chain Starbucks Corp. Perhaps out of courtesy to show his respect to top U.S. business leaders, Hu paid lip service and said: “If I can find the time, I wish to visit a Starbucks in Beijing to have a cup of coffee.” His comment drew laughter. On July 13, Starbucks announced the closing of a coffee shop it has operated inside Beijing’s Forbidden City, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The coffee shop opened in 2000 at the invitation of the administrators of the Forbidden City. In the seven years since then, it has enjoyed a thriving business. But an online campaign led by a well-known Chinese television newscaster who wrote in his blog that the presence of the Western shop does not match well with traditional Chinese culture triggered mass protests and virtually forced Starbucks to withdraw from the historic site. I visited the Forbidden City in late June. The Starbucks there did not have the familiar white and green circular sign hanging outside to lure customers. Rather, it maintained a low profile so as to not stand out. The shop occupied a corner of a section where souvenirs are sold. The day I visited, three attendants were busily serving customers. 19 Japan&China Ch 19 11/6/07, 12:29 PM 356 357 With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility 357 There was always a queue of about 10 people waiting to be served amid the aroma of fresh coffee. Outside the shop, more than 10 Americans and a couple of Japanese were chatting holding Starbucks beverages. As the Forbidden City attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the world, there was a constant stream of people lining up to buy Starbucks products. Although it was a small cafe that measured about 3 meters by 1.5 with only a counter, the rent and turnover must have been very high. The decision to close the coffee shop had nothing to do with its performance since it was doing very well. I have no choice but to deduce that it was forced to go out of business because public opinion reached the conclusion that it does not blend well with traditional Chinese culture. At the risk of making an overstatement, I think the Chinese public felt uncomfortable with the presence of a Starbucks, a symbol of Western culture, within the grounds of the Forbidden City, which they regard as the symbol of their cultural heritage. While China advocates a socialist market economy, the controversy shows there are cases in which socialism and the market economy are incompatible. Image Crisis Meanwhile, the Chinese food culture and eating habits are undergoing drastic changes as stories of countless harmful products are continually exposed. They include vegetables with large amounts of residual pesticides, processed seafood products that contain harmful substances, fake salt and mineral water, watered down wine, cooking oil made from waste oil and soy sauce made from human hair. There is a restaurant in my neighborhood in Tokyo that serves eel imported from China. I used to go there twice a week but since I heard that banned antibiotic substances were found in Chinese eel products, I stopped going there. 19 Japan&China Ch 19 11/6/07, 12:29 PM 357 358 Japan and China In China, a nation of 1.3 billion people, some dishonest dealers are developing criminal activities driven by greed. They must be severely punished by law for causing great damage to China’s international image. Unless the Chinese government takes a firm stand to regulate, control and crack down on such crime over a long period, it cannot expect to recover national honor. Food is not the only problem. Such Chinese-made products as toothpaste, toys, clothing and earthen pots were also found to contain substances harmful to human health. Furthermore, some brands of dieting products, home appliances, cars and tires were also...