The Taiwan Gazette translates and publishes original reporting from Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. Our goal with the platform is simple: We want original reporting from the Sinosphere to have a wider impact on global civil society.
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Distance to the truth – Reinvestigation of migrant fisherman’s death in Indonesia, critical cross-border witness testifies
In late August 2015, Indonesian fisherman Supriyanto died on a Taiwanese distant water fishing vessel, only three months after setting sail. December 15, 2016, The Reporter published the series “Fraud, Exploitation, and Blood on the High Seas,” tracking this case of “death from illness” which the Pingtung District Prosecutors Office speedily concluded within two months, unveiling the suspected mistreatment on the vessel, and the process of trafficking Indonesian fisherman to Taiwan by the shipowner and an agency. After the Control Yuan’s correction and the press' numerous reports, Pingtung District Prosecutors Office soon relaunched the investigation.
In May 2018, one and a half years after, the investigation showed progress. Under the assistance of labor unions from both Taiwan and Indonesia, a fisherman who worked on the same vessel with Supriyanto arrived in Taiwan and gave testimony in court. The testimony not only helped the prosecutor clarify the situation on board then, but also became one of the few successful callings of a foreign witness in the criminal cases.
Bringing Home the Dead, From Taiwan to Vietnam
It wasn’t until Nguyễn Văn Chac sat down on the airplane, that he finally had time to settle down, and talk to his brother.
In the early morning of 14 December 2017, his 20 year-old brother, Nguyễn Văn Trãi, died in a fire in the factory dormitory that he was staying at in Taoyuan’s Luzhu district - just a week before they were due to go see the Christmas tree again.
When “Rainy Night Flowers” Meets Western Symphony: The First Hokkien Opera Composer Gordon S.W. Chin
Gordon S.W. Chin (金希文) blends Taiwanese elements in Western classical music. He has written many symphonies, and has even composed a Taiwanese language large-scale opera. At the age of 60, he has become a recipient of the 2017 Taiwan’s National Award for the Arts.