Ma traveled to Paraguay via Los Angeles to attend the inaugurations of Paraguay President Fernando Lugo on Aug. 15 and Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernadndez on Aug. 16.

Ma left the Dominican Republic for Austin, Texas for a refueling stop before arriving in San Francisco at 2 p.m.

He called and met with 18 U.S. senators and congressmen during his stay at the hotel, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; Eni Faleomavaega, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment; John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence; and Lisa Murkowski, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

President Ma spoke with them about Taiwan-U.S. trade relations, cross-Taiwan Strait relations, a free trade agreement, and military procurement from the United States, sources close to Ma said.

In the evening, the president hosted a banquet for overseas expatriates to speak about his “workable diplomacy,” under which Taiwan would engage China in discussing the country’s international space as the island cements diplomatic relations with its remaining 23 allies.

The top U.S. liaison officer with Taiwan, Chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan Raymond Burghardt, lauded Ma’s visit during the banquet.

Burghardt used temperature to describe Taiwan-U.S. relations, saying that San Francisco is traditionally more chilly than Los Angeles, but Sunday San Francisco had a higher temperature than Los Angeles.

Burghardt also lauded Ma for being able to “brilliantly” execute cross-Taiwan Strait and Taiwan-U.S. relations.

The U.S. welcomes President Ma’s approach to improve cross-strait relations, which Burghardt deemed as in the interest of the U.S. and helpful in warming relations between Taiwan and the United States.