BEIJING — With President Barack Obama in the Chinese capital, the government seems to have adopted a two- track policy toward Obama memorabilia for sale.
Obama dressed as Superman is in. Obama dressed as a Red Guard is out.
Liu Mingjie learned the latter lesson. He is the designer and entrepreneur behind the popular “Oba Mao” image, which takes a silk-screen likeness of Obama and dresses him up in a green jacket and cap resembling former Communist leader Mao Tse-tung.
Since September, Liu’s shop had been doing well with the popular Oba Mao T-shirts, purses and magnets.
But suddenly last week, Liu had no more supplies. Neighbors in other shops said they were visited by officers from the Industry and Commerce Administration and told not to sell anything with Obama’s image on them, and particularly not Oba Mao items.
“My understanding is it is related with Obama’s China visit,” said one sales clerk. “They think that stuff with Obama’s image might be insulting.” The Washington Post
