The Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) between Taiwan, the US and Japan is to welcome Sweden, with their meeting next week to focus on media literacy and democracy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said yesterday.
The framework was launched in June 2015, when Taiwan and the US held workshops on various issues, while Japan in March joined a workshop on combating corruption.
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) on Friday last week announced that the institute and the ministry are to cohost an international workshop on “Defending Democracy Through Promoting Media Literacy” under the framework on Tuesday and Wednesday next week in Taipei.
With elections to be held next year in Taiwan and the US, the workshop — following the first GCTF on disinformation in October last year — aims to examine the ways that disinformation influences elections, assess the implementation of various media literacy education programs around the world, and explore how government and civil society initiatives have evolved to preserve election integrity, the AIT said.
Sweden for the first time is to help the three nations organize the workshop, Ou said.
Misinformation and disinformation are rampant in Taiwan, and the ministry aims to help members of the public sharpen their media literacy to distinguish fact from fiction, she said.
Meanwhile, the first edition of the new forum “US-Taiwan Consultations on Democratic Governance in the Indo-Pacific Region” is to be held in Taiwan on Thursday next week, Ou said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and AIT Director Brent Christensen in March announced the establishment of the forum, which aims to promote democracy, freedom, human rights and good governance.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Scott Busby is to lead the forum, following his visit to Taiwan last year, Ou added.
In related news, the AIT yesterday said that the traveling exhibition “Strong Foundation, Bright Future: AIT@40, U.S.-Taiwan Relations Since 1979,” would open tomorrow.
The show, a cooperative effort between the ministry, National Sun Yat-sen University and the New Taipei City Government, is to be held at the Tamsui Historical Museum, the institute said.
Part of a program to mark the 40th anniversary of the US’ Taiwan Relations Act, the exhibition features photographs, documents and videos commemorating 40 years of the AIT’s role in supporting US-Taiwan relations, it added.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
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