President Ma Ying-jeou and Mrs. Ma's motorcade took them to El Salvador International Airport on the morning of June 2 El Salvador time. Upon arriving at the airport, President and Mrs. Ma were led down a red carpet by a protocol officer from El Salvador and also received a salute from El Salvador's color guard. El Salvador's Foreign Minister shook hands with and said goodbye to President Ma at the foot of the stairs leading to the president's plane. Lastly, ROC Ambassador to El Salvador Carlos S. C. Liao and El Salvador's Chief of Protocol escorted President Ma onto the plane, formally marking an end to the president's trip to the Central American nation.
After a flight of about six hours, President Ma's plane arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at 3:30 p.m. on June 2 West Coast time. American Institute in Taiwan Chairman Raymond F. Burghardt and the ROC's representative in the United States Jason Yuan boarded the aircraft to greet President Ma, after which the president and Mrs. Ma headed to a hotel where they rested for the evening. The president's plane departed the United States at 2:30 p.m. the following day and touched down at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 6:00 p.m. on June 4 Taipei time.
During the flight home, President Ma used the plane's public address system to speak to the members of the delegation accompanying him on the trip, staff involved in organizing the journey and the traveling press corps. The president said that much was accomplished during the 10-day trip. He said he held numerous meetings with the prime ministers and heads of state of Belize, Guatemala and El Salvador, which helped to cement personal friendships between him and the other leaders. In addition, the president commented that during his stay in El Salvador he had the opportunity to hold discussions in person or over the telephone with Honduran President Josée Manuel Zelaya Rosales, Panama's First Vice President-elect Juan Carlos Varela, and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega Saavedra, and the leaders exchanged opinions on topics of mutual interest. These meetings helped to achieve the objective of the trip, he said.
President Ma said he hopes that after returning to Taiwan a new mechanism can be established to provide for long-term cooperation with friends and allies. He furthermore expressed that the ROC does not oppose its friends and allies establishing substantive non-official trade and economic relations with mainland China. He believes that this standpoint enables our allies to realize that the ROC is being pragmatic, which in turn will help to further solidify the alliances with our friends. President Ma also noted that he either met or spoke over the phone with many members of both houses of Congress and federal government officials during his transit stops in Los Angeles and Seattle. These talks helped to promote substantive bilateral relations, he said. President Ma also stressed that the stopovers in the United States were for transit only and that the ROC did not try to play up the visits. The president said that he exchanged greetings with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during the inauguration ceremonies for El Salvador's new president, adding that he is confident that this will not only help to foster bilateral relations, but also will enable countries that do not have official diplomatic relations with the ROC (Taiwan) to rest easy. We will not take advantage of such opportunities to engage in activities unrelated to the issue at hand, he said. President Ma expressed his belief that establishing this type of interaction and mutual trust will create more room for both sides to maneuver, enabling relations to be even more stable.
Lastly, the president expressed his gratitude to everyone joining him on the trip for their hard work, remarking that each person played an important role during the journey. This also enabled our friends overseas to sense the team spirit of this group, he said. With the trip nearing its conclusion, the president once again thanked everyone for their contributions in making it a successful journey.