Jay-Z, Starbucks Symbolize China's Real Problems: Wi

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Jay-Z, Starbucks Symbolize China's Real Problems: William Pesek
2007-01-23 13:58 (New York)


Commentary by William Pesek
     Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The public outcry against a Starbucks
outlet in Beijing's Forbidden City would seem to have little to
do with rap icon Jay-Z.
     Starbucks Corp. faces possible ejection from China's 587-
year-old imperial palace after the world's largest coffee-shop
chain was criticized by a Chinese news anchor. Censors forced
Jay-Z to cancel an Oct. 23 concert in Shanghai.
     Let's see: a buttoned-down Seattle-based outfit that has
popularized $4 ``coffee drinks'' containing less java than
whipped cream and a Brooklyn, New York-born rapper whose songs
deal with drug dealers, pimps and guns. Nope, probably not a
whole lot in common -- at least not from an Asia vantage point.
     And yet the clampdowns on both, no matter how different the
circumstances, say much about some of China's biggest challenges.
They show what the world's No. 4 economy needs more of
(grassroots activism) and what it needs less of (censorship) to
reach its potential.
     Starbucks is up against a popular movement to toss its
single outlet out of the Forbidden City. Actually, it's more of a
kiosk without the ubiquitous Starbucks sign hanging out front,
and good luck finding it. Caretakers will decide by the end of
June whether it can remain or be abolished.
     As an American, you wouldn't catch me in an overseas
McDonald's or KFC. Yet I rarely mind stepping into a Starbucks on
a brisk morning in Beijing, as I did while exploring the
Forbidden City in late November. I never tire of visiting the
world's largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures.
It really is a magical place, and perhaps Starbucks has no place
there.

                          Misdirection

     Yet it's hard not to feel that the uproar is misdirected.
     It would be nice to see a groundswell of support for
clamping down on those offering pirated DVDs inside the Forbidden
City. Bloggers might consider voicing outrage about scam artists
doing business there, too. And then there's the huge portrait of
Mao Zedong that adorns a Forbidden City entrance. Why aren't
bloggers debating Mao's legacy?
     Never mind, Starbucks seems to be the real evil. It's ``a
symbol of low-end U.S. food culture'' and ``an insult to Chinese
civilization,'' Rui Chenggang, an anchor at state broadcaster
China Central Television, wrote on his personal Web log. It's
attracted hundreds of thousands of hits.
     Starbucks is a distraction. Bloggers should be finding ways
to criticize the growing gap between rich and poor in the world's
most-populous nation. They should call for action on China's
graying skies and polluted rivers. They should address the
corruption that keeps China's 10 percent growth from trickling
down to those who most need it. They should question whether
China needs $1 trillion in currency reserves.

                        Bloggers Needed

     If anything, the Starbucks flap underscores the Internet's
increasing power in shaping China's public opinion and shifting
public policy. It would be fascinating to see the effect
increased cyber-activism might have on the Communist Party.
     The problem, of course, is censorship. China spends an
inordinate amount of time and energy controlling what is said
about it. Over time, it will become harder and harder to police
cyberspace and herein lies one of the true wildcards for China's
outlook. It would be nice to see China's bloggers pushing the
envelope more.
     That brings us to Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter.
``Some of Jay-Z's songs contain too much vulgar language'' Sun
Yun of promoter KS Production Co. was quoted as saying in October
by the Shanghai Daily newspaper.

                          It's Not Cool

     Jay-Z, 37, took being banned in stride. ``I know the Rolling
Stones went through the same thing -- and the Black Eyed Peas,''
Jay-Z told reporters in October. ``I didn't take it the wrong way.
It's cool.''
     Only, it's not cool. Never mind that Jay-Z last year worked
with former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to improve access to
clean water in developing nations -- something China very much
needs to do. Investment in water is far more important to China's
stability than, say, building rockets to shoot down your own
satellites, or silencing a rapper.
     China is wasting time censoring things its consumers can get
anyway. Pirated versions of Jay-Z's entire discography can be
found throughout the nation. Ditto for ``Pirates of the
Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,'' a film it banned last year.
     Censorship is a form of protectionism. China wants to
protect the minds of its people so it bans U.S. films and
performers. Doesn't doing so make it harder to argue that the U.S.
shouldn't protect jobs by limiting Chinese goods?

                          Loosening Up

     Yet trying to protect Chinese from the Jay-Zs and Johnny
Depps of the world is a symptom of a bigger problem: the cost of
keeping out news and content spreading throughout the rest of the
world. The policy is simply incompatible with thriving in the
information age.
     China may be the world's factory floor, yet its future needs
to be as much about ideas and innovation as cheap labor. It's an
open question how China can compete in a global information
economy while limiting the flow of information.
     All censoring Google.com and Wikipedia.com accomplishes is
seeing to it that China's best and brightest only know so much
about advancements and trends a world away. China must loosen up
if it is to encourage innovation and create more domestic growth.
     Jay-Z and Starbucks have more to do with China's outlook
than they realize.

    (William Pesek is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions
expressed are his own.)

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