TIL that Swire apparently was never involved in the Opium trade. They say so themselves, China seems to confirm that narrative, and most importantly of all, Swire appeared in Hong Kong three decades after the Opium Wars.

It seems the rivalry between houses Struan and Brock in Tai-Pan and Noble House can't be about Jardine's and Swire, as I have until now assumed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_(business)#1870s