Comments on Raymond Zhou's column "Netizens distracted by 'small evil'" (China Daily, January 20, 2007)

I just wanted to thank Raymond for his extremely rational op-ed piece about the Starbucks in the Forbidden City. He is correct it is a "small evil", a tempest in a teapot.

I agree that the anger directed at Starbucks is misplaced. After all, Starbucks did not simply show up one day and start selling coffee they had to receive approval from the proper Chinese commercial regulators in order to do so, and therefore representatives of the Chinese government granted them a business license.

If people object to the presence of foreign businesses at major Chinese landmarks, then they should address their complaints to those who offered the licenses, not the companies themselves.

Steven Schwankert

Via e-mail

(China Daily 01/25/2007 page11)