President Lai promotes social resilience at event co-hosted by AIT

Taipei, March 5 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) pledged to strengthen Taiwanese society's ability to deal with potential conflicts and disasters at an event co-hosted by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan, on Tuesday.

"Global challenges such as extreme weather, pandemics and energy crises continue to emerge, and growing authoritarianism presents a grave threat to freedom-loving countries," said Lai at the opening ceremony of the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) Workshop on Whole-of-Society Resilience Building, Preparation, and Response.

"These challenges have no borders, and absolutely no single country can face them alone," he told the audience which included representatives from the United States, Japan, Australia and Canada.

In his speech, Lai highlighted three approaches to bolster Taiwan's social resilience: strengthening links between central and local governments, enhancing community-level disaster response capabilities, and leveraging Taiwan's strengths to make contributions to the international community.

"Taiwan holds a key position in the first island chain, and stands at the very frontline of the defense of democracy," Lai said, alluding to China's stated intention to annex Taiwan and international concerns about security in the Indo-Pacific region.

AIT Director Raymond Greene said at the event that "support for Taiwan remains rock-solid and enduring" under the Trump administration and the U.S. is "committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific region."

"The challenges Taiwan currently faces are not just challenges for Taiwan but for the United States and the world, and Taiwan has extensive knowledge and skills to share with global partners," said Green.

Greene praised Taiwan's "impressive" response to an earthquake in Hualien County in April 2024, as well as its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as examples of the country's "significant expertise and resolve."

The representative highlighted healthcare, information security, and energy as examples of key areas in which "the United States works with Taiwan," and noted that the two countries are "more motivated than ever" to bolster Taiwan's resilience.

The AIT represents U.S. interests in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic relations.

Last year, Taiwan established a Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee, an advisory group under the presidential office whose stated purpose is to ensure that both government and society will be able to maintain normal operations in times of national emergency or natural disaster.

The committee, which is chaired by Lai, aims to enhance Taiwan's resilience by training civilian forces, securing strategic and critical supplies, reinforcing energy and key infrastructure, and ensuring the continued operations of medical, transportation, information and financial facilities.

Established by the U.S. and Taiwan in 2015, the Global Cooperation and Training Framework runs workshop events to "utilize Taiwan's strengths and expertise to address global issues of mutual concern," according to the GCTF website.