Managers of China's vast Forbidden City palace are deciding whether to close a Starbucks outlet on its grounds after protests led by a state TV personality, a news report said Thursday.
The decision will be made as part of a palace renovation that already has seen one-third of its shops removed.
Whether or not Starbucks remains depends on the entire design plan that will be released in the first half of the year.
A news anchor for Chinese state television has led an online campaign to remove Starbucks from the vermilion-walled palace, arguing that it tarnishes traditional Chinese culture.
The anchorman, Rui Chenggang, wrote a blog for the broadcaster that Starbucks' presence "undermined the Forbidden City's solemnity and trampled over Chinese culture."
Starbucks opened its Forbidden City outlet in 2000 at the invitation of palace managers, who are under pressure to raise money to help maintain the vast, vermilion-walled complex.