Taiwanese director Doze Niu to serve suspended term for scouting trip ruse

A Kaohsiung court yesterday handed acclaimed Taiwanese director Doze Niu a suspended sentence for taking a mainland cinematographer onto a naval base in Taiwan without authorisation to scout film locations.

Niu was sentenced to five months in prison with two years of probation. He was also ordered to pay a TW$600,000 (HK$405,000) fine and do 60 hours of community service, for violating a law that bans mainland citizens from entering Taiwanese military facilities.

Known for the Taiwanese blockbusters Monga and Love, Niu had repeatedly applied to the defence ministry to take cinematographer Cao Yu to scout locations for his military drama Paradise in Service at a naval base last year but was rejected.

But, Cao entered the base in June last year by getting on a bus with the rest of Niu's crew members who were on the approved list of visitors and also boarded a naval ship.

The navy decided to withdraw all assistance to Niu after the incident came to light and reported him to prosecutors.

The court said in a statement that it handed out a suspended sentence because the director had no prior criminal record and had confessed, while Cao had not jeopardised defence secrets during the scouting.