Beer in Taiwan - The 'Beer Wars'

The 'Beer Wars'

Trade disputes with China led to what is known locally as the "Beer Wars".

Taiwan (under the name Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu) and China (represented by the People's Republic of China) were admitted into the World Trade Organization (WTO) simultaneously in 2002. Beer could now be imported and exported across the Taiwan Strait for the first time.

Foreign labels accounted for just 18 percent of the NT$45 billion (US$1.3 billion) beer market in Taiwan in 2004; Taiwan Beer accounted for all of the remaining 82 percent. Two years later the People's Republic of China refused to allow Taiwan Beer to be imported. Officials cited a law banning the use of county or regional names in commercial products. In Taiwan this argument was hardly persuasive, given the number of products in China already sporting such names, including China's Tsingtao Beer, named for a city in Shandong province. The move was interpreted by many Taiwanese as an attempt to thwart the free trade China had pledged by denying Taiwan proper recognition of its trademarks. A boycott of beers from China was soon under way on the island. The controversy, widely reported in the international press, led to increased recognition of the Taiwan Beer brand.