President Tsai Ing-wen opened the 2020 Taiwan-US-Japan Trilateral Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue Dec. 8 in Taipei City, reaffirming the government’s commitment to working with like-minded partners in tackling shared challenges and building a free and democratic region.
COVID-19 is one of the greatest threats faced by humankind in 2020, Tsai said. Critical changes in geopolitics present members of the international community a choice between defending democracy or surrendering to authoritarianism, she added.
Only through engagement and collaboration can these issues be adequately addressed, Tsai said, citing the Global Cooperation and Training Framework as an example.
Launched in June 2015 by Taiwan and the U.S. to build capacity and strengthen multilateral cooperation, the GCTF has grown to include participants Australia, Japan, Sweden and the Netherlands. A total of 29 workshops involving more than 1,500 experts and officials from around 60 countries have been staged to date spanning areas such as disaster relief, education, energy safety, environmental protection, humanitarian assistance, media literacy, public health and women’s empowerment.
According to Tsai, GCTF is paying dividends for Taiwan as evidenced by the country’s successful staging of workshops spanning topics like circular economy, marine debris disposal and pandemic management. This is complemented by progress on strengthening connections and organizing reunions among former attendees through a task force set up by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she said.
As a reliable international partner and force for good in the world, Taiwan Can Help, Tsai said. The government will continue collaborating with other countries on the basis of shared values such as freedom and democracy, she added.
Kurt Campbell, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said during the event via video that the U.S. goal is to keep its promises to Taiwan. This includes safeguarding democracy, as well as security in the Taiwan Strait and Asia, he added.
Other big-name participants included MOFA Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, U.S. Rep. Ami Bera and Keisuke Suzuki, member of the Japan House of Representatives and former state minister for foreign affairs.
Organized by locally based Prospect Foundation, U.S.-headquartered Project 2019 Institute, and Japan Institute of International Affairs, the daylong event broached an array of issues like challenges and opportunities in the Indo-Pacific, impact of the U.S. presidential election on regional security and restructuring of supply chains amid coronavirus.
In a tweet on its official Twitter account, the MOFA said “The #Taiwan-#US-#Japan Trilateral #IndoPacific Security Dialogue is done & dusted. Plenty of insights from a stellar lineup including @iingwen, Kurt Campbell, Randall Schriver & @SenatorMenendez. A big thanks to @ProspectF, @Project2049 & @JIIA_eng for the successful event.” (YCH-E)
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