The International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) is integrating more technology into its foreign aid programs for diplomatic allies by working with the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL), including a new project to assist Palau in protecting coral reefs.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) for cooperation was signed between ICDF Secretary-General Timothy Hsiang (項恬毅) and NARL president Wang Yeong-her (王永和) on Thursday.
The two semi-official agencies are affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Science and Technology respectively.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Ocean Research Institute
The ICDF promotes nearly 100 foreign aid projects — mainly in public healthcare, environmental protection, disaster prevention and relief, agriculture and food security, information and digital infrastructure — in allied nations every year, it said.
Since 2006, the ICDF has used satellite images relayed by NARL’s National Space Organization in several programs for Central American allies, Hsiang said yesterday, adding that the MOU aims to expand cooperation and increase each agency’s international presence.
For example, the ICDF is helping Honduras improve forest insect management, assisting Nicaragua in improving disaster response times and helping Belize advance urban infrastructure resiliency, he said.
The marine and underwater technologies developed by NARL’s Taiwan Ocean Research Institute (TORI) are to be employed in ICDF’s aid programs for Pacific allies, he said.
For example, the ICDF is helping Palau protect its coral reefs, with TORI members forming a delegation to inspect the corals off the coast of Palau last year, he said.
Cooperation on ocean technology is beginning with Palau because corals are vital to the nation, while ocean conservation has become a global issue, Hsiang said.
At the ICDF’s invitation, TORI associate research fellow Chen Chien-hsun (陳建勳) and National Sun Yat-sen University oceanography professor Keryea Soong (宋克義) last year visited Palau to inspect corals and water conditions, TORI director Wang Chau-chang (王兆璋) said separately.
In addition to aid, the institute’s research vessel, the Legend (勵進), would also be used for survey voyages to more remote waters and data collection, he said.
Partnerships with Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific countries can be expected, he added.
The ICDF also plans to use computing and artificial intelligence technologies developed by NARL to improve information security and household registration systems in allied nations, Hsiang added.
Taiwan maintains formal ties with 15 allies, including four in the Pacific, one in Africa, one in Europe and the rest in Latin America or the Caribbean region.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as