Who's taking the Mickey?
By Raymond Zhou | China Daily | Updated: 2009-01-16 07:47

It was announced this week that a plan to build a Disney theme park in Shanghai would be submitted to the central government for approval. If green-lighted it will be the second Disney park in China, after the one in Hong Kong, which opened in 2005. The new park is slated for 2014.
Many in Hong Kong view a possible Shanghai park as a competitor, but there is a bigger picture - a threat, so to speak, to China's own theme park industry and Chinese culture in general, some argue.
I'm not exaggerating. A friend of mine, who is an expert on the theme park business, is strongly against the idea. He was educated in the United States and for the sake of anonymity I'll call him John.
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