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.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS