Yesterday morning delivered a reminder of our shared geological vulnerability. At 7:37am, a massive magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Mindanao in the Philippines, sending shockwaves through the region and triggering immediate alerts across the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Southeast Asia is facing an escalating number of earthquakes. Over the past 13 years, the region has endured more than 25 earthquakes with magnitudes exceeding 6.0.
To put this in perspective, using the framework of the Central Weather Administration’s (CWA) Seismological Center, earthquakes reaching an intensity equivalent to 6 to 6.9 are classified as “violent,” while those hitting 7.0 and above are deemed “extreme.”
Southeast Asia is routinely bearing these extreme disasters, often without the structural infrastructure required to withstand them. In March last year, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit Myanmar. Centered near Mandalay along the Sagaing Fault, it caused widespread destruction, thousands of fatalities and triggered severe building collapses as far away as Bangkok. For those watching the news in Taiwan, it was not just a distant tragedy headline; it was a call to action.
As a major leader in earthquake resilience, Taiwan can take on the profound responsibility to extend a helping hand, as it has always done in the past.
The connection between Taiwan and Southeast Asia runs deeper than geographic proximity; the region plays a central role in our society. Taiwan is home to a large and increasing number of Southeast Asian diaspora.
National Immigration Agency data as of March this year showed that the top five foreign groups in Taiwan come from the region: 352,715 from Indonesia, 314,782 from Vietnam, 194,690 from the Philippines, 83,023 from Thailand and 24,002 from Malaysia. Myanmar ranked eighth with 8,115 residents.
The nearly 1 million Southeast Asian people in Taiwan form the backbone of the nation’s economy, contributing to healthcare, manufacturing, technology and academia. Our countries rely on each other every day.
When a violent earthquake shatters a community in Mindanao, Sumatra or any part of Southeast Asia, the emotional and economic aftershocks are felt directly by hundreds of thousands of residents in Taiwan. We cannot talk about regional partnership without talking about shared safety.
Taiwan has spent decades perfecting its response to extreme tectonic threats. From the painful lessons of the 1999 Chi-Chi Earthquake to the development of world-class early warning systems, Taiwan’s robust resistance can serve as a model for Southeast Asia.
Taipei can leverage this expertise to provide humanitarian and technical support for Southeast Asia.
Taiwanese structural engineering is designed to bend, not to break, under extreme stress. Taipei can extend institutional partnerships to export low-cost, seismic-resistant retrofitting technologies to vulnerable Southeast Asian urban centers.
Sharing blueprint standards for schools, hospitals and public housing can prevent the structural collapses that cost the most lives during violent tremors.
When disaster strikes, the first 72 hours are crucial. Taipei can strengthen regional resilience by hosting disaster simulation programs that bring together Southeast Asian first responders, civic leaders and civil defense volunteers with Taiwan’s elite search-and-rescue teams. At home, it can expand multilingual emergency communications for Indonesian, Vietnamese, Filipino, Thai and Burmese speakers, integrating foreign residents into Taiwan’s safety net while creating channels to facilitate cross-border aid during crises.
The earthquake in Mindanao could be a catalyst for a proactive shift in foreign policy and humanitarian strategy.
Taiwan has shown that with strict building rules and careful planning, a country can survive massive earthquakes and reduce some of the damage they cause.
True leadership on the international stage is not just about economic and diplomatic metrics; it is about extending a shield to our partners when the ground beneath them shakes.
By preparing a comprehensive, tech-driven seismic aid framework for Southeast Asia, Taiwan can protect the families of those who help build Taiwan every day, transforming geological vulnerability into a bond of unbreakable regional solidarity.
Teng Wun-lyang, a recipient of a Ministry of Education scholarship, is a Burmese graduate researcher at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology.
Singaporean former Prime Minister and current senior minister Lee Hsien- Loong(李顯龍) last month stood on Chinese soil and told Beijing that Singapore cooperates because of “shared interests”, not because of common “ethnic descent,” a significant statement that has upended China’s cognitive warfare tactics of “ethnic nationalism.” Along with using its military buildup and economic growth to expand its international dominance, China has long deployed ethnic politics to promote the idea that all ethnic Chinese around the world, regardless of citizenship, share a tight bond with the Chinese motherland, by which it means the regime of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)
A recent report concerning a student who is suing his teacher posed the question in its headline: Does failing a student in two subjects constitute bullying? The college student in Chiayi County apparently sought NT$2 million (US$63,603) in state compensation, but a court dismissed the case. The first reaction of many might have been to ask: What has happened to students nowadays? Some say that teachers have lost their authority, while others say students are overindulged. Some even start reminiscing over the days when “whatever the teacher says goes.” However, the real issue might be overlooked if emotional reactions like that are the
When I visited Taiwan last summer, I called on the nation to use its status as a technology superpower to build superweapons. It is obvious to me as I return a year later that Taiwan is now answering that call. By 2030, Taiwan envisions a domestic drone hub, capable of producing large quantities of drones per year. The nation continues to tighten cooperation across the private sector, scientific researchers and the elected government, on creating new and innovative production avenues for defense, while efforts to become central to the “democratic supply chain” are only increasing. Anduril is seeing all of these positive
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in San Francisco on Tuesday last week said if she had not met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), she would have been “just a plain” and “even negligible” KMT chairperson, bluntly signaling the role she is playing in her visit to the US — Beijing’s messenger from Taiwan. Cheng and her delegation arrived in the US on Monday last week for a two-week visit across five major cities. Her party said the group is scheduled to meet with US lawmakers, officials, policy experts and businesspeople. Before departing, Cheng said her trip
RSS