Taiwan to pay pirates?

So says the The China Post:

Taiwan is negotiating a ransom payment with Somalian gunmen holding 48 crew members from three Taiwanese fishing vessels, the island's Foreign Ministry said Saturday.
Gunmen in the harbor of Kismayo have been holding the fishermen since Aug. 15, and are demanding a ransom of US$500,000... per ship, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.