President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) arrived in Boston on Saturday, en route to the Caribbean and Central America, as part of his 11th overseas visit since assuming office in 2008.
American Institute in Taiwan Chairman Raymond Burghardt and Representative to the US Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) greeted him at the airport.
Ma later visited his alma mater, Harvard University, where he also met with former premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), who is a visiting scholar at Harvard.
Photo: CNA
Ma, who received his doctorate in juridical science from Harvard Law School in 1981, took a stroll across the campus and revisited the law school complex, libraries, research institutes, dormitory and a big tree, which he said he was obsessed with when he was a student there and has since occasionally dreamed about.
While riding in a vehicle on campus to look for the tree, Ma let out a happy cry when he spotted it and got out to embrace the tree.
From Boston, Ma is scheduled to fly to the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Nicaragua.
Photo: CNA
While in the Dominican Republic, Ma is to deliver a speech to the Dominican Congress and hold talks with Dominican President Danilo Medina, officials said.
In Haiti, Ma and Haitian President Michel Martelly are to jointly open a new Haitian Supreme Court office building. The project was financed by the Taiwanese government and took two years to complete.
While in Nicaragua, Ma is to meet with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and visit Taiwanese businesses in the country. He is also expected to be presented with the key to the city during a visit to the historically important city of Granada.
Ma is scheduled to return home on Saturday after a transit stop in Los Angeles.
Ma last visited Harvard nine years ago when he was mayor of Taipei and chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Additional reporting by Wang Yu-chung
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