President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of May 24 with Ms. Hualing Nieh Engle (聶華苓), co-founder of the International Writing Program (IWP) at the University of Iowa. The president extended a cordial welcome to the novelist on her visit to Taiwan.
The president commented that in the over 40 years since its establishment, over 1,000 writers from 36 countries have participated in the IWP, including some 100 writers from Taiwan, mainland China, and Hong Kong. This initiative has made an outstanding contribution to the Chinese-speaking literary world. The president recalled that television was not widespread when he was in junior high school, so reading was an important part of one's life, and he read with admiration works by Ms. Nieh, as well as other works published by Youth Literary and Crown Magazine.
The president commented that when he served as Taipei City mayor one of his major objectives was to transform Taipei into a center for Chinese-language publishing. Many outstanding writers, including Gao Xingjian (高行健), have had their works published in Taipei, he said, pointing out that 10 years ago it was extremely difficult to find works from Taiwan writers published in mainland China, but these days you can find books written by local writers such as Tsai Kang-yung (蔡康永) , Chu Tien-hsin (朱天心) and others there. President Ma also pointed out that the pop music and non-fiction charts published in Yazhou Zhoukan ("Asia Weekly") magazine show the most popular works in eight cities, three of which are in mainland China. This is quite positive, he stated, as it generates increased interaction between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait in the publishing industry.
President Ma also pointed out that last year over 5,600 students from mainland China were studying as exchange students at over 160 universities in Taiwan, and that this year 2,000 mainland Chinese students will enroll in full degree programs at universities here. Interaction among young people from both sides affords mainland Chinese students a feel for the freedom of Taiwan, and will help build mutual understanding. President Ma also expressed his hope that even more Taiwan writers will participate in the IWP and interact with writers from all parts of the world to create an even richer literary community here.
Ms. Nieh was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Council for Cultural Affairs Vice Minister Hong Ching-feng (洪慶峰) and General Association of Chinese Culture Secretary General Tu Yang (楊渡) to meet President Ma.