Just down the road the buyer opens the car door, and spews a mouthful of red juice. The scene is as common as it is controversial. Welcome to the Taiwan betel-nut war. On one side is an unpopular government bent on crushing the habit. On the other are three million chewers who just won't say no.
Officials say the custom endangers public health, the environment and moral fiber.
Ten thousand farmers and vendors marched in Taipei in early June to protest the new policy. The government was unmoved. Taiwan's aborigines have grown and chewed betel nut for centuries. Settlers from China first picked up the habit about 300 years ago, and for most of that time chewing was limited to a rural working class. But during the past decade the betel nut has come into its own.