Beijing to ban public Tiananmen buses from displaying ads to avoid 'tainting the purity of communist monuments'

Authorities in Beijing are mulling over banning the display of commercial advertisements on buses crossing Tiananmen Square. Advertisements stuck on the sides of buses will be targeted in China’s latest move to avoid “tainting the purity of communist monuments with commercialism.” Buses travelling on routes that pass through the square, which is home to some of the famous monuments in China such as the Great Hall of the People and the mausoleum of late supreme leader Mao Zedong. The ‘forbidden zone’ The draft of the order published in a Beijing daily read that the area around Tiananmen Square is a ‘forbidden zone’ and any buses passing down the Chang’an Boulevard between Wangfujing shopping district to the east and Xidan to the west will no longer be allowed to display advertisements. A political commentator going by the name Ma said, “The leadership … basically rejects the private sector and commercial activities.” “I think it’s in line with their thinking … that buses passing through Tiananmen Square won’t be allowed to carry advertisements,” he added. Social activist Lu Jun told Radio Free Asia, “It’s to create a uniform look, so that when you see TV footage or watch the news, all of the shots and images that you see will have been carefully controlled by the Communist Party.”