The Ministry of National Defense on Sunday confirmed plans to produce a Taiwanese version of the popular South Korean military television drama Descendants of the Sun, aimed at improving the military’s image and morale.
Ministry spokesman Major General Chen Chung-chi (陳中吉) said that bidding for the NT$12.8 million dollar (US$419,300) series had been completed, and the series, tentatively titled The Best Choice (最好的選擇), would have a total of 16 episodes and would be helmed by award-winning director Liang Hsiu-shen (梁修身).
Liang said he plans to start filming in the middle of next month, with a large opening ceremony being held before filming starts.
While he would not reveal casting specifics, Liang said the male lead would be someone who is in top physical shape, as he is to play the role of a special forces soldier.
Some actors are currently in the military, including female officers in the military’s news agency and political warfare divisions, he said.
“We have created a vivid story that is lively and romantic. It is not a stereotypical drama,” Liang said, adding that he is deeply grateful for the ministry’s support.
Responding to a question from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) at the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee meeting yesterday, Colonel Chen Yu-lin (陳育琳), director of the political warfare department at the Matsu Defense Command in Lienchiang County, said the series would be available for viewing online through the ministry’s Facebook page and other social media sites, in addition to cable and over-the-air TV broadcasts.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) voiced skepticism, saying the military’s problems are rooted in its leadership and discipline, and that the TV series would not be helpful in improving the military’s image.
DPP Legislator Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄), pointing to a photograph of Descendants of the Sun lead Song Joong-ki that he brought to the meeting, asked Minister of National Defense Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬): “Is he more handsome than you were back in the day?”
“Not quite,” Feng answered, eliciting laughter when he responded similarly to another comparison with Taiwanese-Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro (金城武).
Feng later said he was only joking with the legislators.
Chuang said he hoped the series would not turn out to be a “Regret of the Sun,” playing on the Chinese word for “regret” (hou hui, 後悔), which shares a character with the word “descendant” (hou yi, 後裔).
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
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