My comment:
(a) The latest statistics from World Health Organization (WHO) is
WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004
http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_status_report_2004_overview.pdf
, whose Table 3 was titled "Total recorded alcohol per capita consumption (15+), in litres of pure alcohol" and cited "FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations) and World Drink Trends 2003" as "sources" (the text explained the data had been collected "for the year of 2000 or 2001"):
India 0.82
Japan 7.38
Republic of Korea (S Korea) 7.71
US 8.51
Italy 9.14
Russia 10.58
Germany 12.89
France 13.54
(Neither Taiwan or Hong Kong is identified in the table--or the entire report.)
Please note it is PURE alcohol. Generally speaking, beer has 4-6% alcohol by volume (ABV), wine 9-16% and vodka 40% ABV.
(b) Assuming that the only alcohol Americans consume is beer and that all beer has 5% ABV, according to the above WHO table (where US ranked 33rd in alcohol consumption), every day average Americans (15+) drink a little more than 12 fluid ounces (equivalent to ~360 ml) of beer. (In US, there is a beer bottle of such volume, that is why I select this benchmark.)
Incidentally "beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage in America and accounts for 85% of volume of alcoholic beverages sold in the United States each year."
Stats on Tap: Annual Beer Consumption by State
http://www.sloshspot.com/photos/blog/full/photo_1246056700.png
(c) Other perspectives of alcohol consumption in US:
(i) Annual Alcohol Consumption in One Day in America. Time, 2007.
http://www.time.com/time/2007/america_numbers/alcohol.html
(ii) Zhang Y et al, Secular trends in alcohol consumption over 50 years: the Framingham Study. Am J Med., 2008 121: 695-701.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18691483?ordinalpos=5&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
("Among drinkers, there was a decrease across succeeding birth cohorts in average alcohol intake: among individuals between ages 30 and 59 years, age-adjusted mean intake was 30.6, 25.5, and 21.0 g/day for those born in 1900-1919, 1920-1939, and 1940-1959, respectively, in men (P<.001), and 14.2, 12.3, and 10.4 g/day, respectively, in women")
(d) 衛生統計 - 保健類. Department of Health, Taiwan.
http://www.doh.gov.tw/lane/statist/84/84stat6-1idx.html
(平均每人每年酒消費量(公升): increasing from 29.68 in 1986 to 39.44 in 1995)
To my surprise, few data can be found about alcohol consumption in Taiwan.
My comment: The report states
(a) 解放军"出动1万5千多人渡海登陆突袭金门." For a decade since I paid attention to zh.wikipedia.org, it has consistently said "9,086" PLA troops landed. The same report later said "解放军被俘、伤亡各7千多人." What happened to the other half of the landing force?
(b) 金门防卫司令部上校胡泽群"说：'当时共军以为一天之内就能够拿下金门，他们还约好了要在金门城内吃午饭，所以他们的部队只带了一天的干粮，但是当时驻守的国军(国民党军队)已经做好了万全的准备，而且情报上也知道共军准备利用25日凌晨两点的高潮登陆."
How could PLA fought for three days then? Likely many died in the days--even hours--and the survivors ate their food.
I did not know Taiwan knew the landing in advance!
(3) Amber Wang, Concerns over Taiwan press freedom amid China thaw. AFP, Oct. 25, 2009.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091025/lf_afp/taiwanchinapressfreedom_20091025182011
("The precipitous drop [in the Reporters Without Borders report] has left Taiwan trailing behind the Chinese territory of Hong Kong, which comes in at 48, as well as some African nations such as Ghana, Mali and Burkina Faso.")
My comment: There is no need to read the rest.
(4) Mark MacKinnon, A portrait with pearls tells China-Taiwan tale; Cultural exchange demonstrates warming relations between old foes. Globe and Mail (Toronto), Oct. 23, 2009.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/a-portrait-with-pearls-tells-china-taiwan-tale/article1336645/
(5) Amy Stone, A tale of two cities -- Beijing and Taipei; First you'll want to see the Forbidden City itself, then head to Taiwan, where its finest treasures now reside. Miami Herald, Oct. 25, 2009.
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/story/1292811.html
There are three interesting reports that has nothing to do with Taiwna or China.
(1) 艾伦∙利特尔, 记者来鸿：波黑难以抚平的创伤. BBC Chinese, Oct. 22, 2009.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/world/2009/10/091022_fooc_bosnia.shtml
My comment: The English version of the report:
Allan Little, Bosnia, a 'world of parallel truths.' BBC Chinese, Oct. 17, 2009.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8311452.stm
(2) 昔日战旗 今日国宝. BBC Chinese, Oct. 23, 2009.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ukchina/simp/uk_life/2009/10/091023_life_flag.shtml
(3) Hua Ying 华英, 太阳变蓝的启示. BBC Chinese (blog), Oct. 25, 2009.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/zhongwen/
(贵在选择)