Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation is apparently
more interested in sponsoring events in China then Taiwan. But then, with a customer base that is literally addicted to its products, I'm sure they're not worried about boycotts:
DPP opposes TTL sponsoring Asian Games in Guangzhou
Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Page 2
2009-10-28 12:00 AM
Opposition Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Huang Wei-cher yesterday proposed restrictions on state-run enterprises sponsoring events in China.
Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation spent NT$500 million on the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, even though it never spent any money on the Taipei Deaflympics, the Kaohsiung World Games, or the victims of Typhoon Morakot, Huang said.
Taiwanese state-run companies bore a responsibility toward their own citizens and should not spend money on advertising in China, he said.
According to the
Taipei Times today (one day after the information above became apparent) the Premier wholeheartedly supports TTL's investments:
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday praised state-owned Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corp (TTL, 台灣菸酒公司) for sponsoring the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, to the tune of NT$400 million (US$12.29 million). “When I heard about the plan, I approved without hesitation because it offers tremendous benefits: The tasty Taiwan Beer will sweep the mainland and the brand will promote the ‘Taiwan concept’ and Taiwan’s excellence. It could also generate extra revenue of NT$30 billion a year,” Wu said.
TTL president Duan Wei (韋伯韜) signed the sponsorship deal with the 16th Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee in Beijing on Monday and announced the launch of corporate offices in Beijing and Shanghai.
TTL has sought to register the Taiwan Beer brand as a trademark in China since 1999, but Beijing did not approve the registration until in May, objecting to the use of the word “Taiwan.”
One of course wonders what has changed so that the word 'Taiwan' is now acceptable. Other than that, one thing that leaves me rather cold is Wu's reference to the 'Taiwan concept' which, as Tim and EVA pointed out, is better translated as 'Taiwan subjectivity'. Is this a rather weak attempt at scoring points with the anti-annexation majority whilst riding on the assumption that a beer product will somehow also deliver a sense of the Taiwanese experience to its consumer?. Any other government would I suspect have said that "x beer will sweep y region promoting the nation's reputation, economy and values." The question can be asked, if the government wants to avoid having the economy work towards explicitly building and promoting the nation ('Taiwan') they may go off and explicitly help to support another.
