Shooting has started in Taipei for Hong Kong director John Woo’s (吳宇森) big-budget historical drama The Crossing (太平輪), with Taiwanese-Japanese actor, Takeshi Kaneshiro, and a Japanese actress spotted filming in the mountains around Taipei on Tuesday.
Kaneshiro, whose mother hails from Taiwan, and Japan’s Masami Nagasawa were dressed in mid-20th century clothing as they filmed outside a Japanese-style house built for the film in Taipei’s Yangmingshan National Park.
Despite temperatures plunging to about 6?C, the 40-year-old actor was seen wearing just a light jacket, while his costar wore a short sleeveless dress.
Dubbed the “Chinese version of Titanic,” The Crossing is the story of three couples in China who boarded an ill-fated ship bound for Taiwan during the turmoil of 1949.
It is based on the Taiping, which capsized on Jan. 27, 1949, in the Baijie Strait 71 miles southeast of Shanghai after colliding with a cargo ship. A total of about 1,000 lives were lost, many of them well-heeled elites fleeing the onslaught of Communist troops.
The NT$1.45-billion (US$48.6-million) film features an all-star cast from around Asia, including China’s Zhang Ziyi (章子怡), Huang Xiaoming (黃曉明), Tong Dawei (佟大為) and South Korea’s Song Hye-kyo.
Woo is best known for action films including Broken Arrow and Face/Off.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
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