Tainan, Taiwan, April 24 (CNA) Republic of China President Chen Shui-bian got a taste of the glory of the Academy Awards Tuesday when he met with Ang Lee at the Oscar-winning director's home in the southern Taiwan city of Tainan. Chen congratulated Lee on his achievement in becoming the first ROC national to win an Academy Award.
The president told Lee that he had twice watched Lee's prize-winning martial arts epic "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Chen said he was impressed by its moving story of honor, obligation and unfulfilled love, as well as its gravity-defying fight scenes and swordplay.
Chen even told Lee that he drew inspiration from conversations between the two leading characters of the film in handling sensitive relations across the Taiwan Strait. "I adapted the dialogue `if you close your hands, you'll have nothing; but if you open your arms, you'll have everything' into my Lunar New Year's Eve address," Chen recalled, adding: "At that time, I hoped mainland China could understand my message that goodwill dialogue, not fisticuffs, can resolve cross-strait issues."
Chen praised Lee as a "great promoter" of Taiwan's film industry. Chen further said Lee's road to success offers the best encouragement to local people--"Keeping going at your ideals is the key to success."