Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou visits China's historic sites.

Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou began a 12-day tour of China with a visit to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing, paying tribute to the founder of the Republic of China and the Nationalist Party. Ma's tour comes as tensions between Taiwan and China rise, aggravated by an antagonistic U.S.-China relationship. Taiwan is a self-governed democracy and the U.S. is its largest unofficial ally, while China claims the island as its own. Ma has framed the trip as an effort to lower tensions by promoting exchanges, bringing Taiwanese college students with him on the visit, and has said he hopes that his trip could help lower tensions.