Date:07/05/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/05/07/stories/2007050705801400.htm

International

Ban on lanterns

ROME: Chinese restaurants in the northern Italian city of Treviso have been ordered to remove lanterns from their windows, a local newspaper has reported. ``It's spoiling the appearance of the city,'' a local official was quoted by the Corriere della Sera daily as saying. The official said Chinese restaurants had put up many types of lanterns and looked ``too oriental". Deputy mayor Giancarlo Gentilini has ordered the restaurants to take down them within 10 days. He warned them of regular checks to ensure that no lanterns and other oriental decorations were put up. ``Treviso is a city of Veneto and Padania, it's certainly not an oriental city,'' he said. Located in the north-eastern Veneto region, Treviso was run by the populist, anti-immigrant Northern League. Last month, street clashes broke out between Italian police and the Chinese community in Milan, which accuses police of racial discrimination. — Xinhua