The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, American Institute in Taiwan (Taipei Office) and Taiwan Foundation for Democracy will host the International Workshop on Defending Democracy through Media Literacy on October 18 and 19 in Taipei under the auspices of the Taiwan-US Global Cooperation and Training Framework.
 
This event will further expand the cooperative partnership between Taiwan and the United States to defend democratic values. Members of the media, scholars, experts, and government officials from 12 nations in the Indo-Pacific region will attend. Legislative Yuan President Su Chia-chyuan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaushieh Joseph Wu, American Institute in Taiwan Taipei Office Director William Brent Christensen and Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the U.S. Department of State Scott Busby will speak at the opening ceremony.

MOFA welcomes Deputy Assistant Secretary Busby, who is traveling to Taiwan to attend on behalf of the US government. This will be the first program addressing media literacy held under the GCTF. Social media and communications software have become major information conduits in the Internet Age, making it easier to spread unverifiable news and systematic disinformation originating from specific countries. Under the GCTF, this media literacy workshop will see experts sharing experiences, empowering them to better prevent disinformation from destabilizing the international community. The program shows the joint commitment of Taiwan and the United States to freedom of speech and a democratic system.
 
Within the past three years, the GCTF has held 13 international workshops on public health, law enforcement cooperation, women’s empowerment, energy efficiency and e-commerce, among other topics. Over 240 experts from 33 nations in the Indo-Pacific region have come to Taiwan to participate. Looking ahead, Taiwan and the United States will continue to cooperate on issues of international concern in order to benefit the people as well as the prosperity and development of the region. (E)