The Presidential Office’s Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee is to host its first international forum on Saturday, with more than 20 foreign experts and representatives expected to attend, a source said yesterday.
The event, titled “Resilient Taiwan, Sustainable Democracy,” marks the committee’s first anniversary and would be the first time that international participants take part, the source said.
The development demonstrates international recognition of Taiwan’s efforts to strengthen its defense resilience and to create opportunities for cooperation with like-minded democracies, they said.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Guests are to include Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator James Barros, American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan chairman Dan Silver, UK Space Agency chief scientist Adam Amara, and Finnish National Emergency Supply Agency Director Aki Laiho, they said, adding that representatives from the European and Japanese chambers of commerce in Taiwan would also attend.
The forum is to focus on what President William Lai (賴清德) has defined as the “five pillars of defense resilience,” namely, civil training and mobilization; strategic materials and daily supplies, energy and infrastructure security; social welfare and medical preparedness; communications and transportation; and financial network security, they said.
Panel discussions, keynote speeches and roundtables are planned for the event, which would highlight Taiwan’s progress on defense resilience, enable discussion on international best practices, and present friendly nation’s progress on the issue, they added.
National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) said the forum would open with remarks by Lai, who also chairs the committee.
Each thematic session would be hosted by committee members with international experts discussing the topics, Lin said.
For example, the session on civil mobilization would be moderated by Forward Alliance founder Enoch Wu (吳怡農), with Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Charity Foundation CEO Yen Po-wen (顏博文) delivering a keynote on how Taiwan’s civil society contributes to disaster relief, preparedness and resilience, he said.
Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said Lai has promoted whole-of-society defense resilience since taking office by coordinating the efforts of central and local governments with those of civil groups, while also deepening exchanges with international partners.
Taiwan has already shared expertise with Japan, the US and several European countries in areas such as disaster prevention, cybersecurity and energy security, she said.
The guest list includes experts across sectors such as trade, space science, disaster management, energy security and supply chain resilience, showing that the forum is intended as an opportunity to explore future cooperation in multiple fields, she said.
“Since its establishment, the committee has sought to develop a comprehensive national resilience strategy spanning four areas — defense, civil preparedness, disaster prevention and democratic sustainability,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Presidential Office also plans to send a delegation of five officials to Tokyo in August next year to observe a disaster prevention drill there and meet with local officials, according to the Presidential Office budget.
Those officials would include members of the Japanese Ministry of Defense, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the National Defense Academy, and the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience, the budget indicated.
The six-day visit is expected to cost about NT$500,000, including NT$175,000 for transportation, NT$233,000 for living expenses and NT$89,000 for office expenditures, it showed.
The Presidential Office said the trip is “aimed at learning from Japan’s extensive experience in resilience and disaster preparedness, while deepening bilateral cooperation and exploring possibilities for further exchanges.”
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
RSS