President Ma Ying-jeou on the morning of July 5 attended a press conference to announce the ROC Centenary Cultural Roadshow, which will introduce Taiwan's culture to students at 1,000 elementary schools across the United States. The president expressed his hope that this activity will spark cultural interaction and enable American youngsters to discover the beauty of Taiwan.
The president explained that the Council for Cultural Affairs, the Republic of China Centenary Foundation , and the US-based Adventist Education system have jointly planned the event. Besides affording American students an opportunity to learn about Taiwan's natural environment, culture, traditions, folk customs, and its core values of respect for Heaven, diversity, and friendliness, the activity will help students better understand the deep friendship between the two countries, the president said. This will help to further encourage interaction between the two sides, he commented.
The president also spoke of his own personal experience, saying that 40 years ago he visited the United States under a US State Department program for Asia-Pacific student leaders. At the time, he lived with a host family in California. During the Lunar New Year, he said, he specially prepared deep fried pork chops and wrote a couplet "All men are brothers, the meaning of which starts with benevolence and filial piety; the emperors of three dynasties enjoyed success by pursuing the middle way." President Ma said that he hopes this small story will serve as an example of how everyone can do his or her part to help people around the world better understand Taiwan.
After completing his remarks, President Ma invited nine American children who currently reside in Taiwan to take the stage. He asked them their impressions of Taiwan, and the simple but quick-witted dialogue between them had the crowd in laughter. The president engaged in a ceremony with the children to mark the commencement of the roadshow, which served as a prelude to the upcoming activity. It is hoped that the one-week introduction to Taiwan will enable an estimated one million American elementary school children to get to know Taiwan and its culture.