Taiwan Launches 11-Nation Alliance for Disaster Management
Taiwan has formally launched the World Alliance for Disaster Management, bringing together 11 countries to strengthen cooperation on disaster preparedness and response.
Taiwan formally launched the World Alliance for Disaster Management (WADM) in Taipei on Saturday, drawing together the capabilities of 11 countries to deepen cooperation on disaster preparedness and response.
The alliance is intended to link governments, emergency response agencies, businesses, academic institutions and civil society groups across the full disaster management cycle. Its work will cover professional training, information sharing, capacity building, joint exercises and practical exchanges in disaster prevention, early warning, emergency response and post-disaster recovery.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said that when authoritarianism seeks to instill terror, democratic societies must project confidence through resilience. He added that democratic partners should join hands when authoritarianism tries to divide unity, and framed the alliance's aims around defending people's welfare, freedom and democratic ways of life, as well as peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. He also pointed to increasingly unpredictable climate change, saying the goal was to help societies respond to conflicts, recover quickly and remain sustainable.
Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril Industries, also addressed the ceremony. He argued that Taiwan cannot build a proper industrial base around domestic demand alone and is missing a commercial opportunity. Noting Taiwan's reputation as a leading producer of airsoft guns, he urged the island to move into manufacturing real firearms and sell them to countries that share its commitment to freedom, so that those countries come to depend on Taiwan for advanced capabilities in the way the world already depends on TSMC for commercial capabilities.
Luckey further said Taiwan's soldiers are increasingly practising mission command and learning to act independently from the top down, describing a force able to improvise and act freely as holding a major advantage over a micro-managed force that must seek permission for everything it does.
The alliance counts 12 founding members and 21 observers. Senior Taiwanese officials, including National Security Council Secretary General Joseph Wu and Defence Minister Wellington Koo, were present at the launch.