Nowadays, I, myself, am once more bored of the country's agenda. If there is any of you who wants to rest their heads a little bit, like me, please step front. May I present you an article today, that has, just like Seinfeld, no subject? Let's give it a try. Did you know, in Forbidden City, located in Beijing, the capital of China, there once existed a Starbucks? I did not. It opened in 2000 and closed in 2007. Why was it closed? Along with a campaign 'our culture is being eroded' that was started in an internet blog site, the Starbucks Forbidden City had to be closed because of the growing public reaction. And where? In China, a country where even the internet restraints are so strict that 'Google' company recently decided to withdraw from the country, it seems the blogs can be effective. The pressure of the public opinion can make firms shut down their branches. I don't know about you, but I found this interesting. Look what the whole 'Forbidden City' matter made me think of. Those of you who wish to escape the boring agenda of the country are welcome. Our long article on nothing commences.

To tell you the truth, I have never heard that there once was a Starbucks in the Forbidden City, in Beijing, just until the other day. I found out about this two days ago while I was reading the detective novel that I still haven't finished. Sometimes it is surprising what you learn and where you learn it. This is why a politician who reads Red Kit is still much more preferable to one who doesn't read at all. For those of you curious: See Turkey's current history. Let this be noted. In the latest detective novel of Swedish writer Henning Menkel, 'The Man from Beijing', the Swedish hero of the novel, while traveling around Forbidden City, comes across Starbucks. He was surprised, and I was caught unawares. It was as if the global issues suddenly emerged from a crack, just out of the blue, while I was pursuing an exciting crime novel, disconnected to the global agenda. Am I right, I mean, what in the world was an all-American Starbucks doing in the middle of China's Forbidden City? Was it also available in our Topkapı Palace?

Let's start with the setting, if you may. The Forbidden City is approximately a sixhundred years old palace complex, located right in the center of Beijing, the capital of China. It includes lots of buildings that 24 successive emperors resided along with their subordinates, from 1368 to 1911. Mao's residence, as the last emperor, is also in this domain. From China's perspective, it is the administrative center of a long emperorship tradition and it still sustains this function. It is, at the same time, a museum. The Forbidden City is a large field of 72 hectares and has allegedly 9999,5 rooms in it. It is claimed that, since God's Palace has 10000 rooms, his son's should have less. Nowadays, the number of functioning rooms is about 7000. That's why, the Forbidden City is seen as the earthly symbol of China's 5000-year history. Or at least this is how it is told in the article inspecting the campaign to kick out Starbucks from the Forbidden City, in the 35th issue of Public Relations Review, in 2009, written by Gavin Kan Ai Zhang.

But how did Starbucks open a branch in Forbidden City in the first place? The same way the other 500 currently functioning Starbucks' in China did, of course. The first one opened up in Taiwan, in 1998, then in 1999, it expanded to Beijing. And in Hong Kong, in 2000. For the time being, there are 230 Starbucks' in twenty-two cities including Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzen and Shanghai. Taking into consideration Deng started the liberalization in 1978, I guess this means Starbucks entered China with the deepening of the globalization process. By the way, I should remember and compare the web sites of Starbucks' for you some day. While in other countries' Starbucks web sites you are able to find information on the date Starbucks first opened there and its activities, you can only find information about the local managers, in our web sites, not Starbucks. For this reason, I couldn't find out how many Starbucks' there are in our country. I know all about the figures in France, or Thailand, but ours is not accessible. By the way, I think ours is the only site that is not available in English. Why is that? I don't have any idea.

Anyway, back to the matter of Starbucks Forbidden City. In 2000, the administrators of Forbidden City, or as it is referred to there, Palace Museum, invited Starbucks over there either to make a change, a difference, surprise everyone and have a good laugh, or to pay off a part of the administrative costs. However, its presence also brought along some criticism. A campaign, which started in 2006 in an internet blog site, caused Starbucks to get kicked out of the campus, in 2007.

This is the matter. Now it's time to look at the oddnesses that caught my mind. The first one is very simple: didn't these Chinese people essentially use to drink tea, what is with this coffee keenness, all of a sudden? Isn't Beijing known for its tea houses, rather than coffee? Yes, it is. As a matter of fact, it is possible to find a list of tea in the Starbucks menu that is peculiar to China. If you look at the menu, which is available on internet, there is the Bi Luo Chun, described as a tang, fresh sweet flavoured tea; the Mu Dan, a fresh and sweet white tea, and etc. The word is, tea is consumed as a natural need, while coffee, sort of like alcohol, is a socialising mechanism. The knowledgeable ones put it this way. When in 2007 the Starbucks Forbidden City closed, a traditional teahouse opened, instead. Let us note that.

Now here is the second point: doesn't the government in China strictly control the internet? How could a public pressure emerge in such circumstances? What must one understand from the term 'public pressure' when it comes to China? Every single situation needs to be handled in their own cultural perspective. In China, the government controls the internet, much like it controls everything else. However, this control doesn't mean suppressing everything. The negative criticisms are written down and taken care of immediately. But it is done in such a way that, is seems as if they are saying, 'if communism is to take over, we are the ones who will take care of that, too'. Regional party leaders are strictly criticised, often taken off duty. Legal action is initiated with a snap, to close down Starbucks Forbidden City. Just as anywhere else, in China, too, the politics take the pressure off in a controlled manner when needed. There is a free-zone for nationalist criticisms.

I think the third point should be this: Starbucks Forbidden City was closed down, having made into a national matter of pride. It was perceived as the attack of West imperialism to internally conquering China. There is an overly strong anti-imperialist, nationalist discourse dominating China. The Chinese, starting from the Opium War, in which they gave Hong Kong rein to the English, have been inclined to see their countries as a victim of the West, meaning, from 1842. It's not easy to let go of the past. This goes for China, too. Remember how the Chinese people responded the foreign demonstrations with fierce nationalism at the Olympics. Just like that. The Communist Party of China was nationalist before. It still is today, essentially.

By the way, let me note this for those of you who have not forgotten, there is no Starbucks in Topkapı Palace. So don't get excited and rush to your keyboards.

This commentary was published in Referans daily on 05.06.2010