Public Opinion

The summer of a nonelection year is the slowest time in Minnesota politics. So off to Bejing we go.

Until last week, Starbucks had a store in the Forbidden City. Enter Rui Chenggang, one of China's "Anchor Gods," with 100 million viewers. Seven months ago, Rui, who broadcasts for the state-run China Central Television, complained on his blog that the presence of a Starbucks had "undermined the Forbidden City's solemnity and trampled over Chinese culture."

By the next day, Rui says, the item had been read by half a million people and generated "thousands, if not tens of thousands," of e-mail responses. Last week, the Chinese government forced Starbucks to close (the company declined the government's kind invitation to rebrand as "Forbidden City Coffee).

Think about it, for a minute. The Chinese government responds to public opinion. That's astonishing.

The best line in the LA Times story: "The Forbidden City," Rui added, "is not an airport."