A Beijing restaurant opened less than a month ago was close last Friday after officials raised objections to its name.
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Chinese law forbids the use of a national leader’s name, and Deng Family Restaurant purportedly celebrated the late Deng Xiaoping. The restaurant showcased more than 80 photographs of the leader and carried a slogan on the window that read “Deng Xiaoping led us to wealth”.
At the restaurant’s entrance sat two statues of a white cat and a black cat, a reference to Deng’s famous quotes: “It doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice.”
Officials are reported in the Sing Tao Daily as explaining that the restaurant was clearly using the leader to draw business. While it is allowable to adopt such names and promote great leaders’ thinking, it was wrong to use Deng to drive custom, they added.
