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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan's culture minister has pledged to invest more than $20 million to reinvigorate the local production of TV drama series that has faltered under competition from mainland China and South Korea.
Lung Yin-tai said Friday the government will fund the making of five flagship drama series and help TV stations attract talent to raise the content and quality of their productions.
Until a few years ago, Taiwanese soap operas had captivated China with heart-wrenching love stories featuring stylishly dressed protagonists.
But Chinese filmmakers have struck back, leveraging high salaries to attract Taiwanese actors and other movie workers to work on the mainland.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
