Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Saturday evening arrived in Los Angeles on his third overseas trip since his two-term presidency ended in May last year.
Ma was welcomed by Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles Director-General Steve Hsia (夏季昌) and Taiwanese expats at Los Angeles International Airport.
Ma was invited to California by the Pacific Council on International Policy, a non-profit think tank focused on foreign policy, and the University of Southern California.
Ma yesterday visited the USS Iowa, a decommissioned battleship anchored in San Pedro and open to the public as the USS Iowa Museum.
In 1943, then-US president Franklin Delano Roosevelt traveled to Egypt on board the ship for a conference in Cairo that was also attended by then-British prime minister Winston Churchill and former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).
At the Cairo Conference, the trio outlined the Allied position against Japan during World War II and made decisions about post-war Asia.
After the visit to the museum, Ma attended a dinner banquet with Taiwanese expatriates.
Ma is today to deliver a speech on Taiwan-China relations at the University of Southern California and meet with Taiwanese students.
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