Anchor Woman Dedicated to Ties across the Straits

Li Hong must have been one of the busiest anchor people at CCTV around the launching of the World Expo Shanghai 2010. During these days， she shuttled between Beijing and Shanghai repeatedly to interview celebrities and cover key events. On April 29， a group of high-profiled politicians from Taiwan arrived in Shanghai. On April 30， they attended the opening ceremony of the expo and met with Hu Jintao， general secretary of the Communist Party of China. Li Hong covered their meeting and some of their activities in Shanghai.

Li Hong hosts Across the Straits， a prime-time high-profiled program at CCTV 4， now a channel especially designed to target Chinese audiences beyond the mainland. So it is easy to understand why her mission during this time was covering events concerning the Taiwan Pavilion and related events at the World Expo Shanghai 2010.

In addition to reporting on the opening ceremony， Li Hong covered the opening ceremony of the Taiwan Pavilion and other pavilions where Taiwan is an element. On the evening of May 2， 2010， “Across the Straits” screened Li Hong’s interview with Hau Lung-Bin， mayor of Taipei， who was in Shanghai to unveil the Case of Taipei Pavilion. The interview was considered a great success. Li Hong asked all the relevant questions and the mayor provided a full range of information on Taipei’s endeavors to make life comfortable and green for residents.

In the program on May 5， 2010， Li Hong in Shanghai introduced the Taipei Case Pavilion to television audiences. She interviewed visitors and Mr. Chen Qing’an， director of the pavilion. She watched a 3D film introducing audiences to 101 Tower， Palace Museum and the everyday life of local residents. She watched how the city cleaned up Danshui River， regarded as the mother river for the city. And in the end she posed for a picture where visitors can see 2010 photos of Taipei residents smiling from ear to ear.

No anchorwoman at CCTV has hosted Across the Straits longer than Li Hong has. She has been hosting the program for eight years since 2003. The evergreen anchorwoman is considered a walking encyclopedia on Taiwan.

Li Hong reads Taiwan newspapers and magazines and watches Taiwan television programs in a bid to keep up with news developments in the island province. She is familiar with the vocabulary used by Taiwan people. She has visited Taiwan， traveling around the island to have the first hand experience of what her program is all about and meeting celebrities. She has also visited Fenghua in Ningbo， Zhejiang， which is the hometown of Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-Kuo， long-term rulers of the island.

As an anchorwoman with the program， Li Hong has witnessed and covered key events over the past eight years. These historical events include KMT chairman Lien Chan’s ice-breaking visit to the mainland， the accomplished direct links of trade， mail， and air and shipping services across the Taiwan Straits， Chen Shuibian’s reelection through the two-bullet melodrama and downfall to a suspect charged of graft and malfeasance， Ma Ying-Jeou as a defendant in a lawsuit and his rise to the power in Taiwan， CPC-KMT forums in Taiwan and on the mainland. Many audience members came to knowabout these events through the program masterfully hosted by Li Hong.

Guest speakers are a highlight of the program. These guest speakers include experts on the mainland. Experts of Taiwan affairs in Beijing are regularly invited to the program to talk about key developments concerning the two sides. Military experts on the mainland are also frequently invited to talk about America’s arms sales to the island and joint military maneuvers. Moreover， guests in Taiwan often appear real time in the program， too. These guest speakers include well known news analysts， people’s representatives， and professors in Taiwan. Their presence at the program is a great attraction.

Li Hong works closely with these guest speakers. As Li Hong knows their personalities and capabilities， she cooperates with them closely so that the program creates a way for them to demonstrate their strengths in their in-dept analysis and comments on current affairs across the Taiwan Straits.

Li Hong is from Jilin City， Jilin Province in northeastern China. Hers is a family of intellectuals. Her father is a preeminent calligrapher. After graduation from the Chinese language department of Jilin Academy of Education， she began to host an evening news program at the local television while taking a course sponsored by Beijing Broadcast College. In 2001， Li Hong entered Jilin Provincial Television where she hosted a morning news program. While working， she took a journalism course at the literature department of Jilin University. This advanced study helped her mature as a television anchorwoman and gradually she built up her reputation as an excellent newswoman. In 2003， she came to CCTV and began to host the Across the Straits.

The program at CCTV 4 is first screened at eight thirty every evening and rebroadcast twice the next day. It comprises two sections. The first section scans latest news concerning Taiwan and the relations of the two sides. The second section is a talk show where guests from the two sides of the straits comment and analyze the latest news and issues in depth. In addition， Taiwan news analysts are invited to review weekly news. Via the international satellite， this program is broadcast in many countries and regions in the world. The Chinese language channel is designed for overseas Chinese audience and the program is a window for overseas Chinese audiences on the ties and relations across the Taiwan Straits and latest economic and political developments in the island. □