President Ma Ying-jeou on the afternoon of August 1 at the Presidential Office met with National Geographic Channels International and Fox International Channels Chief Executive Officer Mr. David Haslingden. President Ma, on behalf of the ROC government and the 23 million people of Taiwan, extended a warm welcome and expressed his appreciation to Mr. Haslingden.
President Ma praised the National Geographic Channel for its dedication over the years to producing many informative and outstanding programs. The channel is not only renowned internationally, but is a mainstay in households on Taiwan, with many loyal viewers here, he said. President Ma recalled studying Law of the Sea when he was a student in the United States many years ago. He said that he developed a deep interest in the books and magazines produced by the National Geographic Association. He said he especially enjoyed the oceanographic charts that National Geographic produced in the late 1970s. President Ma said the charts were an immense help to him in his academic research. He said he had hoped to buy a copy of the charts, but that at the time he was a student unable to afford the cost of them. The president said that after he returned to Taiwan he hoped to acquire a copy, but the charts had long gone out of print, which he said was deeply disappointing to him.
President Ma also said that after returning to Taiwan, he regularly would spend time watching the outstanding programs that were aired on the National Geographic Channel, which have enabled him to learn a lot. The president said he felt, however, that given Taiwan’s performance in the international arena, there are not enough reports on Taiwan on international channels. He said he warmly welcomes the international media to station reporters on Taiwan and to produce related programming and issue publications. As a result, he said he hopes National Geographic Channels and the ROC’s Government Information Office will cooperate in producing top quality programming to show the beauty of Taiwan to the world and enable more people to understand Taiwan.