Fourth co-host: The Netherlands

Content of Workshop: Experts from the United States, Taiwan, Japan, and the Netherlands shared their best practices and experiences for the participants to take lessons learned back to their own countries to confront the growing global problem of marine debris. AIT Director Christensen said: “The United States is working with Taiwan and other partners to find solutions to complex waste management issues, including marine debris.  This is one of the many areas in which Taiwan can share its considerable expertise with the world.”

Key Attendees: AIT Director Brent Christensen, Taiwan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Harry Tseng, Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Chief Representative Hiroyasu Izumi, The Netherlands Office Taipei Representative Guido Tielman in delivering opening remarks.

Number of Participating Countries: 16

Fourth co-host: Australia

Content of Workshop:

At this workshop, participants learned best practices from law enforcement experts from the United States, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia, and sharing their own experiences to take lessons learned back to their own countries to confront the new global challenge of countering COVID-19 related schemes and disinformation. AIT Deputy Director Greene said: “Excluding Taiwan from international law enforcement efforts creates dangerous loopholes that can be exploited by bad actors.  COVID-19 related crimes are no exception. We hope this workshop will provide an opportunity for Taiwan to share its expertise with other partners working to address this transnational challenge.”

Key Attendees: AIT Deputy Director Raymond Greene, Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang, Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kwang, MJIB Director General Leu Weng-jong, Australian Representative Gary Cowan, JTEA Deputy Representative Yokochi Akira.

Number of Participating Countries: 31

Content of Workshop: This two-day virtual workshop on intellectual property rights (IPR) protection focused on prosecuting theft of trade secrets and stopping digital piracy of copyrighted content. IPR protection is a critical component for economic development in the modern digital economy. Government officials with responsibility for IPR protection joined the webinar, sharing their own experiences and taking lessons learned back to their own work on confronting the common challenge of combatting IPR infringement. AIT Director Christensen opening remarks highlighted the “Four I’s,” which are the virtuous cycle of interaction, IPR protection, investment, and innovation. “Advanced economies all recognize that intellectual property rights protection is the key ingredient to attract investment and encourage innovation in order to compete in our modern global economy,” Christensen said.

Key Attendees: The Honorable Edward Chen, U.S. District Court Judge, Northern District of California, AIT Director Brent Christensen joined MOFA Deputy Minister Tien Chung-kwang, Ministry of Justice Deputy Minister Tsai Pi-chung, and JTEA Deputy Representative Yokochi Akira

Number of Participating Countries: 21

Content of Workshop: Taking place on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, speakers from Taipei, New York, and Tokyo shared their views on how the GCTF platform can help build public private partnerships to advance international development goals and cooperation during the workshop. AIT Director Brent Christensen said, “Using public sector policy acumen and private sector business skillsets, Taiwan and the United States will continue to reinforce democratic and free market principles that underpin our values and while spurring development for the future.”

Key Attendees: AIT Director Brent Christensen, Managing Director, Office of Global Partnerships, U.S. Department of State, Thomas Debass, Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Deputy Representative Yokochi Akira, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, James K.J. Lee, director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York.

Number of Participating Countries: 29

Fourth co-host: Guatemala

Content of Workshop: This GCTF workshop was the first in a series of expert exchanges focused on the Western Hemisphere.  The workshop focused on helping countries deploy digital tools to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Other virtual events in this series will also related to aspects of the digital economy. This webinar was the first GCTF program focused on the Western Hemisphere and will leverage digital platforms to reach participants in Latin American and Caribbean.  AIT Director Brent Christensen said, “As the pandemic continues to rage across the world, Taiwan can help develop new solutions to support frontline medical and other essential workers.  Taiwan set the standard for transparency, by quickly and accurately communicating risks to the general public in a way that built trust and secured voluntary cooperation.  The whole world has much to learn from Taiwan’s example. Though Taiwan is prevented from participating meaningfully in the WHO, the webinar you heard today is just one of many ways that Taiwan is sharing its expertise and showcasing that it is a force for good in the international community. The United States remains committed to expanding Taiwan’s international space.”

Key Attendees: AIT Director Brent Christensen, U.S. Department of State Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie Chung, Guatemalan Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo, Taiwan Vice Foreign Minister Miguel Tsao, Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Chief Representative Hiroyasu Izumi, Taiwan Digital Minister Audrey Tang, BlueDot CEO Dr. Kamran Khan

Number of Participating Countries: 25

Fourth co-host: Australia

Content of Workshop: This GCTF workshop focused on building capacity among public health officials and experts from countries across the region and beyond. AIT Director Christensen thanked partners, panelists, and attendees for the significant contributions they have made to maintain global health security in the face of this global pandemic. As U.S. Secretary Pompeo recently said: “The United States has long considered Taiwan a force for good in the world and a reliable partner.  We have a shared vision for the region—one that includes rule of law, transparency, prosperity, and security for all. The recent COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity for the international community to see why Taiwan’s pandemic-response model is worthy of emulation.”

Key Attendees: AIT Director Brent Christensen, Taiwan Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, Chief Representative of Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Taipei office Hiroyasu Izumi, Deputy Representative of Australian Office in Taiwan Susan Moore

Number of Participating Countries: 16

Content of Workshop: This workshop focused on disinformation in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic.  By bringing together social media influencers, technologists, journalists, and members of the fact-checking and media literacy communities, the workshop discussed trends and effective tactics for refuting COVID-19 disinformation.  This workshop was the first that was conducted on a digital platform with participants tuning in from Taiwan, the United States, Japan and 6 other countries.

Key Attendees: U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Robert Destro, Taiwan Deputy Foreign Minister Hsu Szu-chien, Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Taipei Office Chief Representative Hiroyasu Izumi, Global Engagement Center Principal Deputy Coordinator Daniel Kimmage, Global Engagement Center China Team Deputy Director Debra Lo, AIT Director William Brent Christensen, Taiwan AI Labs Founder Ethan Tu, Malaysia’s Institute of Strategic and International Studies Analyst Harris Zainul, Taiwan’s TeamT5 Analyst Che Chang, Technology and
Design Lead of Taiwan’s Watchout.tw Yu Chihhao

Number of Participating Countries: 9

• Content of Workshop:  This workshop focused on the sharing of best practices for good energy governance in the Indo-Pacific and covered oil and gas security, electricity security, energy resilience, and regional cooperation.  This was the first time Australia joined the United States, Taiwan, and Japan in co-hosting a GCTF event.
• Key Attendees: U.S. Department of Energy Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia and Americas Elizabeth Urbanas
• Number of Participating Countries: 11 (excluding co-hosting countries)

• Content of Workshop:  The workshop focused on identifying ways to preserve and revitalize Austronesian languages, and was followed by an Executive Council meeting of the Austronesian Forum, a platform for dialogues established by Taiwan to promote international awareness on Austronesian cultures.  This workshop was the first to take place outside Taiwan.
• Key Attendees: Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod, U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Palau, Amy J. Hyatt, Palau Queen Bilung Gloria Salii, former Palau President Johnson Toribiong,  Palau Community and Cultural Affairs Minister Baklai Temengil-Chilton
• Number of Participating Countries: 10

Content of Workshop: The workshop focused on identifying ways that disinformation can influence democratic elections and assessing media literacy campaign results, providing a platform for governments and civil society to cooperate on effective initiatives to strengthen democracy. “A well-informed citizenry that can effectively distinguish between credible and false reports is a citizenry that is better prepared to vote intelligently and hold their leaders accountable,” said AIT Director Brent Christensen during the opening ceremony.

Key Attendees: Legislative Speaker Su Chia-chyuan, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scott Busby, Sweden’s Representative to Taiwan Hakan Jevrell, Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Deputy Representative Shigehiro Nishiumi, National Democratic Institute Vice President Shari Bryan, AIT Director Brent Christensen

Number of Participating Countries: 12
Guest Co-host: Sweden

Content of Workshop: The workshop focused on the importance of network security as a foundation for a dynamic digital economy. The event underscores the government’s commitment to working with regional partners in tackling global information security threats. The promotion of cross-border cooperation and experience sharing was also discussed. “Taiwan has a tremendous amount of valuable experience to share, and nowhere is this more true than when it comes network sececurity and emerging technologies.” AIT Deputy Director Raymond Greene said during the opening ceremony.

Key Attendees:U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency director of National Risk Management Center Bob Kolasky, State Department, Federal Communications Commission, law enforcement, Taiwan’s National Communications Commission, Deputy Foreign Minister Kelly Wu-chiao Hsieh, AIT Deputy Director Raymond Greene 

Number of Participating Countries: 21 

Content of Workshop: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen opened the two-day summit on the role of women in trade and investment, adding that “when more women are able to pursue their aspirations, our countries become more prosperous, and our region more stable.” Participants from 18 countries gathered to share and learn ways to increase female workforce participation, and to empower women to pursue their ideals. 

Key Attendees: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, U.S. Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, Taiwan Legislator Karen Yu, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency Jane Nishida, Economic Affairs Deputy Foreign Minister Mei-Hua Wang, Deputy Foreign Minister Kelly Wu-Chiao Hsieh, AIT Director W. Brent Christensen, Jessica Liu, managing partner of Taipei-based accelerator AppWorks; Kathryn Kaufman, managing director for Global Women’s Issues at U.S.-based Overseas Private Investment Corp.; and Syaru Shirley Lin, political economy scholar at Chinese University of Hong Kong and University of Virginia 

Number of Participating Countries: 18 

Content of Workshop: Participants brainstormed ways to combat multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis with nine countries and fifteen TB-prevention professionals. This event is the sixth public-health workshop held under the GCTF framework. “Taiwan, as a responsible global citizen, has much to contribute to efforts to address infectious disease and many other international health concerns,” said AIT Director Brent Christensen during the opening ceremony. 

Key Attendees: former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention experts, USAID experts, Taiwan’s Center for Disease Control experts, and AIT Director Brent Christensen 

Number of Participating Countries: 9 

Content of Workshop: Discussions centered around topics such as promoting clean governance, preventing corporate espionage, and preserving national competitiveness through trade secret protection. “We are extremely fortunate to have a regional leader in Taiwan – a mature democracy not only dedicated to countering corruption, but willing to share its expertise with partners to make the Indo-Pacific region more resistant to the dangers of corruption,” said AIT director Brent Christensen, opening this workshop on combating corruption.

Key Attendees: MOFA Deputy Minister Hsu Szu-chien, MOJ Minister Tsai Ching-hsiang, AIT Director Brent Christensen, JTEA Chief Representative Mikio Numata, MOJ Agency Against Corruption, Investigation Bureau and Department of Prosecutorial Affairs official, U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation official, Malaysia Anti-Corruption commission official, and Japanese experts in the field

Number of Participating Countries: 18

Content of Workshop: The workshop included presentations, wide-ranging discussions, and essential measures to be taken to achieve increased participation and representation of women in both private and public organizations. “”Few countries in the Indo-Pacific region, or worldwide for that matter, can claim to have achieved as much as Taiwan has toward the important goal of more equal representation between men and women in leadership positions,” AIT Director Brent Christensen said during the opening ceremony.

Key Attendees: Congresswoman Pat Schroeder, Senior Policy Advisor for Women and Girls for the US State Department Secretary’s Office for Global Women’s Issues Marci Hodge, MOFA Vice Minister Tsao Li-jey, AIT Director Brent Christensen 

Number of Participating Countries: 13 

Content of Workshop: Participants from 10 countries gathered to share best practices and look for ways to integrate private, civil, and public sector disaster response capabilities into regional preparedness and response efforts. 

Key Attendees: MOFA Deputy Foreign Minister Hsu Szu-chien, Ministry of the Interior’s National Fire Agency Training Center Director Lee Ming-hsien, AIT Deputy Director Raymond Greene, and Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies representatives

Number of Participating Countries: 10

Content of Workshop: Discussions touched on challenges to combating disinformation on the Internet and social media, and the roles that the government, private industry, and civil society can play in fostering robust and fact-based public debates. “The United States maintains a deep appreciation for Taiwan’s vibrant democracy, its respect for fundamental freedoms, and its strong commitment to the rule of law,” said Scott Busby, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. 

Key Attendees: MOFA Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu, Legislative Yuan President Su Jia-chyuan, Minister without Portfolio Audrey Tang, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Scott Busby, AIT Director Brent Christensen 

Number of Participating Countries: 10

Content of Workshop: Law enforcement and expert representatives gathered for this forum that covered issues ranging from passport fraud, narcotics trafficking, to counterfeit money. Transnational cooperation between intelligence and various law enforcement agencies was stressed as a necessity to combat crime in order to promote a more stable region for facilitating regional development. 

Key Attendees: Premier William Lai, MOFA Deputy Minister Hsu Szu-chien, MJIB representatives, U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Secret Service, AIT Director Brent Christensen 

Number of Participating Countries: 16 

Content of Workshop: Leonard Peruski, head of laboratory operations at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr. John MacArthur, U.S. CDC country director in Thailand, addressed 27 health officials from 14 countries during this workshop on diagnosing enterovirus, one of the most common causes of hand, foot, and mouth disease. The four-day workshop also featured a demonstration of the EV-71 rapid test kit that was developed by Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control. Such workshops offer the opportunity to “showcase Taiwan’s willingness and ability to contribute to all humankind,” said François Chih-Chung Wu, Deputy Minister of Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in his opening remarks. 

Key Attendees: MOHW Minister Chen Shih-chung, Taiwan Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs François Chih-Chung Wu, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Leonard Peruski, U.S. CDC country director in Thailand Dr. John MacArthur, AIT Director Moy 

Number of Participating Countries: 14 

Content of Workshop: Attendees discussed various ways to reach the approximately 3.6 billion people (half the world’s population) without access to the internet. The promotion of broadband internet access in remote areas in the Pacific Island nations as a case example was also discussed. 

Key Attendees: Deputy Foreign Minister Chang, Ambassador-at-Large for Digital Inclusion Chen, Deputy Minister of the National Development Council Chiou, President of the Institute for Information Industry Yu, MOFA Deputy Minister Paul Wen-liang Chang, MOFA Ambassador-at-Large Chen Jen-ran, U.S. Department of State Digital Economy and Broadband Policy for the Pacific Islands and Taiwan lead officer Dan Oates, Deputy Chief of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission International Bureau Troy Tanner, ICT development expert David Townsend, AIT Acting Director Robert Forden

Number of Participating Countries: 11

Content of Workshop: The workshop explored ways to expanding opportunities for women entrepreneurs in the tech sector to promote inclusive growth and development. Participants also discussed common challenges faced by women in the tech sphere, and how the added diversity is a necessity when seeking to solve society’s problems. “Taiwan is in many ways at the leading edge of women’s empowerment and technology entrepreneurship,” said AIT Director Kin Moy, opening this workshop. 

Key Attendees: Secretary General Tsai, Ambassador-at-Large for Women’s Empowerment Fan, U.S. Small Business Administration Deputy Assistant Administrator Eugene Cornelius, CEO Chien, AIT Director Kin Moy 

Number of Participating Countries: 10 

Content of Workshop: Participants from six countries gathered to learn and brainstorm effective ways to enhance humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. “Taiwan continues to showcase its desire to assist others in need, as evidenced by its generous contributions in the wake of the 2015 Nepal earthquake, and its quick response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013 and the Japan earthquake and tsunami in 2011,” said AIT Director Kin Moy, opening the event. “Given this tremendous capability, it makes perfect sense for the United States and Taiwan to partner together, with each of you here today, to bolster our ability to respond to disasters whenever and wherever they occur.” 

Key Attendees: Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Liu De-li, USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistant Erin Magee, AIT Director Kin Moy, officials from Taiwan’s National Fire Agency 

Number of Participating Countries: 6 

Content of Workshop: Four-day workshop on lab techniques for detecting mosquito-borne viral diseases with the aim to assist South and Southeast Asian nations in establishing the capability to detect an differentiate dengue fever, chikungunya, and Zika within one work day. Improvements in the regional capacity to tackle infectious diseases, reinforce global health security, and ward off the threat of infectious diseases were also discussed during the event. “As like-minded democracies with decades of close ties, it is only natural that the United States and Taiwan seek to jointly address emerging global and regional challenges that know no borders.” said AIT Chairman James Moriarty. 

Key Attendees: Taiwan Vice President Chen Jien-ren , Minister without Portfolio Deng Chen-chung , Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung , Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Leo Chen-jan Lee , AIT Chairman James Moriarty, AIT Director Kin Moy 

Number of Participating Countries: 13 

Content of Workshop: Participants from 11 countries came to Taipei to take part in this workshop on developing best practices in e-commerce. “With much of the world’s economic activity shifting to online platforms, and with entirely new industries emerging as a result of the Internet and Internet-connected devices, policymakers everywhere are striving to ensure that frameworks are in place to unleash the potential of e-commerce and the new digital economy,” said AIT Deputy Director Robert Forden.

Key Attendees: S. Federal Trade Commission Michael Panzaera, AIT Deputy Director Robert Forden 

Number of Participating Countries: 11 

Content of Workshop: The workshop focused on the attainment of cost-effective ways to achieve economic goals in the energy efficiency area while reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality. “Taiwan and the United States have a history of cooperating on this topic,” added Ambassador Matthew J. Matthews, Deputy Assistant Secretary and U.S. Senior Official for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, recalling the 2014 Joint Conference on Low-Carbon Communities, hosted by Taiwan’s Bureau of Energy and AIT 

Key Attendees: Deputy Assistant Secretary and U.S. Senior Official for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Ambassador Matthew J. Matthews 

Number of Participating Countries: 10 

Content of Workshop: International training workshop on diagnosing Zika led by experts from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, and Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases. 

Key Attendees: Taiwan Vice President-elect Chen Chien-jen, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiang Been-huang, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruce Linghu, AIT Director Kin Moy

Number of Participating Countries: 7 

Content of Workshop: This conference brought together government and civil society leaders from the Asia-Pacific region for a workshop to promote greater economic and political empowerment for women. Participants discussed common challenges to women empowerment and brainstormed policy recommendations.

Key Attendees: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, Founder and President of WCI Marjorie Margolies, representatives from MOFA, representatives from Taiwan’s Executive Yuan Department of Gender Equality, AIT Director Kin Moy

Number of Participating Countries: 6 

Content of Workshop: Participants from eleven countries learned about dengue fever prevention and response capabilities. The promotion of exchange and sharing of knowledge and information on dengue prevention and control was also part of the workshops. The event was designed to build partnerships and strengthen regional capacity to respond to dengue threats and ensure global health security.

Key Attendees: Director of the National Institute of Infectious Disease and Vaccinology Dr. Liao Ching-lun, Director of the Division of Acute Infectious Diseases at Taiwan Centers for Disease Control Dr. Yang Chin-hui, Eliminate Dengue Program Australia Professor Scott O’Neill, State University of New York Professor Jonathan Schwartz

Number of Participating Countries: 11

Content of Workshop: The first event held under the GCTF brought participants together to learn and discuss the best strategies for diagnosing and controlling Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The course was designed to strengthen laboratory diagnostic capacities and prepare professionals in the region with tools needed to respond to challenges posed by MERS-CoV. “It is our hope that the participants in this week’s workshop will leave here with a deeper understanding of the mosquito-borne diseases we are fighting, a greater appreciation of how important it is for the global community to come together to help each other in this battle, and a larger network of colleagues around the region, and world, including here in Taiwan, on whom you can call for assistance,” said AIT Director Kin Moy. 

Key Attendees: US Center for Disease Control (4 experts total: 2 from the nosocomial infection prevention and 2 from the molecular laboratory) 

Number of Participating Countries: 8