Taiwan Beer
Foreign labels accounted for just 18 percent of the NT$45 billion (US$1.3 billion) beer market in the ROC in 2004; Taiwan Beer accounted for all of the remaining 82 percent. Two years later the PRC refused to allow Taiwan Beer to be imported. Officials cited a law banning the use of county or regional names in commercial products. In the ROC 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 PRC had pledged by denying Taiwan proper recognition of its trademarks. A boycott of beers from China was soon underway on the island. The controversy, widely reported in the international press, led to increased recognition of the Taiwan Beer brand.