China Airlines is fine. I have flown with them a number of times between BNE and TPE (and onwards to HKG, Mainland China, Japan) and they are a good quality airline. Service levels in Y are quite impressive, certainly better than CX, but IFE/Seats are a little older and more like QF A330 standard. J class service is great, but product wise not very competitive.
In terms of safety record, I wouldn't worry too much. Their last major incident was in 2007 when a 738 engine caught fire in Japan (all passengers and crew evacuated safely). From what I've heard, they have taken big strides to improve their safety standards and maintenance procedures, which was a requirement of CI joining SkyTeam.
I have flights booked in with CI flying to Honolulu in July this year - flying the long way (BNE-TPE-NRT-HNL and return), but it worked out at $1450 in Y as opposed to Jetstar / Qantas who were wanting $1,800 and $2,000 for similar dates. Overall it's a pretty good airline despite its patchy safety record.