Taiwan launches first intergovernmental body in 55 years with global disaster alliance

Taiwan has launched the World Alliance for Disaster Management (WADM), the first intergovernmental organization initiated by Taiwan in 55 years. Experts say the alliance is not only a platform for Taiwan to share its disaster-governance experience with the world, but also carries significant diplomatic value.

The WADM

President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) announced the formal establishment of the Taiwan-initiated World Alliance for Disaster Management (WADM) while attending the 2026 Resilient Taiwan for Sustainable Democracy International Forum on Sept. 19.

Lai said Taiwan aims to become a transnational disaster-preparedness hub by connecting international governments, disaster-management agencies, and civic groups for joint training, exercises, and mutual aid.

Marking what the president called a major breakthrough in Taiwan’s participation in international organizations after more than half a century, WADM launched with Taiwan, Taiwan’s 11 diplomatic allies and Somaliland as founding members, alongside government bodies, disaster-management agencies and organizations from 21 countries — including the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom — joining as observers and partners.

Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said WADM exemplifies Taiwan’s integrated and value-added diplomacy, noting the nation will deploy its expertise in AI, satellite systems, drones, and smart manufacturing to bolster global disaster-management capabilities.

Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said Taiwan will continue deepening international cooperation by sharing experience, conducting joint training and providing mutual assistance with global partners, thereby enhancing collective resilience against disasters and climate-related risks.

The significance of WADM

Wang Hung-jen (王宏仁), a political science professor at National Cheng Kung University, told TCN that WADM’s most important value lies in transforming Taiwan’s long-accumulated disaster-governance experience into a public good that can be offered to the international community.

Noting that climate disasters "do not distinguish between countries with or without diplomatic ties," Wang said Taiwan’s demonstrated disaster-management capabilities offer a sustainable path to meet critical needs abroad.

Wang said leveraging Taiwan’s strengths in drones, satellites, AI, and healthcare can elevate WADM beyond a platform for sharing local experience and turn it into a key regional platform for Indo-Pacific disaster resilience.

Sun Kuo-hsiang (孫國祥), a professor in the Department of International Affairs and Business at Nanhua University, told TCN that disaster management is a relatively nonpolitical field in which countries can cooperate on concrete and shared risks, including earthquakes, typhoons, extreme weather and complex emergencies.

WADM’s focus on joint training, exercises, mutual assistance and information-sharing, Sun said, could turn diplomatic relationships into practical operational networks.

Taiwan’s disaster-management experience

Both Wang and Sun said Taiwan’s experience in disaster governance gives WADM substantive value and enables it to offer more practical assistance.

Sun said Taiwan’s strengths in disaster response, ICT, satellite applications, drones and emergency management give the organization value beyond symbolism.

Forged by decades of typhoons, earthquakes, and torrential rains, Taiwan has built deep practical expertise across search-and-rescue, emergency medicine, disaster communications, and public-private cooperation, Wang said.

Through WADM, Taiwan can institutionalize its disaster-management expertise and shift from reactive "rescue diplomacy" toward proactive "resilience diplomacy," Wang said. Rather than merely dispatching post-disaster supplies and search teams, the initiative will focus on joint peacetime exercises, intelligence sharing, and regional capacity-building.

Diplomatic value

WADM marks the first intergovernmental organization initiated by Taiwan in 55 years and only the third headquartered on the island, joining the 1970 Food and Fertilizer Technology Center and the 1971 World Vegetable Center, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Wang said WADM reflects Taiwan’s move from “participation diplomacy” toward “platform diplomacy.”

Wang said that, after years of facing political blockades from Beijing in bids to participate in the World Health Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization, Taiwan is pursuing a new diplomatic strategy through WADM. Instead of knocking on closed doors, the island is proactively building international bodies centered on its specialized strengths and urgent global demands.

This demonstrates that Taiwan's international engagement need not be limited by formal diplomatic ties, Wang said, noting that functional cooperation allows the island to forge broader global networks.

Echoing that view, Sun said WADM provides Taiwan an institutional bridge for sustained foreign engagement, opening regular diplomatic and professional channels among its 13 members, 17 observers, and 11 partners regardless of formal ties.

Rather than only seeking participation in existing international organizations, Taiwan is helping build a functional institution in an area where it has recognized expertise, Sun added.

Beijing’s pressure

Sun said WADM may indirectly mitigate Beijing’s diplomatic pressure. Rather than confronting Taiwan’s exclusion from international organizations head-on, the platform can expand Taiwan’s international space by providing public goods that other countries have practical reasons to use.

Establishing WADM will not fully shield Taiwan from Chinese diplomatic pressure, Wang noted, warning that Beijing is likely to push back against participating countries in the future.

Yet Wang emphasized that growing operational ties make Beijing’s pressure harder to sustain. As foreign rescue teams, medics, local authorities, NGOs, and tech sectors build substantive partnerships with Taiwan, Chinese demands to scale back participation would end up harming those nations’ own disaster-preparedness interests, he said.

The challenges

The ultimate test for WADM begins after its launch, Wang said, warning that the alliance must answer a critical question: Why will foreign partners still need it three, five, or even 10 years from now?

WADM cannot be merely a symbolic talking shop or an annual conference — it must deliver continuous, concrete results, he said.

Relying primarily on Taiwan’s diplomatic allies for formal membership remains a structural hurdle WADM must overcome, Wang noted. Without diversifying its core members, he stated, China could easily write the initiative off as a political vehicle built solely to skirt diplomatic isolation.

Success will come down to professional utility rather than politicization, Wang said. If WADM delivers critical rescue technology and training that nations actually rely on, Wang said, Beijing will struggle to justify its diplomatic blockades, and international partners will have far greater incentive to maintain cooperation.

Echoing that concern, Sun said the main challenge will be turning WADM from a launch event into a durable institution. 

For long-term survival, he noted, Taiwan must secure steady funding, establish a dedicated secretariat, run regular field exercises, and lock in sustained participation beyond its formal diplomatic circle.

Avoiding excessive politicization will be another challenge, Sun said. If WADM is branded as an anti-China political tool rather than a professional emergency body, potential partners may balk, leaving its credibility dependent on technical competence and tangible relief results, Sun added.

Next steps

Asked how Taiwan should develop similar platform-based initiatives, both experts urged a cautious approach.

Rather than rushing to duplicate the model elsewhere, Wang said the government should focus on making WADM a proven success first.

Sun likewise said Taiwan should prioritize “institutionalization over rapid expansion.”

Both experts highlighted the importance of the National Fire Agency’s training center in Zhushan. 

The center must move beyond ceremonial visits to achieve genuine internationalization, Wang said. 

Wang noted that, by establishing routine cross-border courses, instructor exchanges, joint drills, and certifications, the facility should aim to make coming to Taiwan for training an institutional necessity for foreign partners.

Sun said the Zhushan training center could become WADM’s permanent regional training hub, offering certification programs, multinational exercises, disaster-response teams and technology demonstrations.

Cooperation and participation remain key

Sun said Taiwan should also seek partnerships with universities, NGOs, humanitarian organizations and existing regional disaster-management networks.

WADM should develop several visible and practical projects, such as early-warning cooperation, emergency communications, drone-based disaster assessment and multinational urban search-and-rescue exercises, he said. Such projects would make participation valuable regardless of a country’s political relationship with Taiwan.

Taiwan holds distinct advantages across emerging tech, public health, seismic monitoring, and rescue operations, Wang said. To maximize these strengths, he urged the government to pool capabilities across the private sector, academia, NGOs, and municipal agencies.

“The key is to transform the expertise of Taiwan’s different sectors into diplomatic assets,” Wang said.

Such integrated cooperation, Sun said, would give WADM the best chance of developing from a diplomatic initiative into a lasting international public-good institution.

Wang said WADM’s real success will not hinge on launch-day attendance, but on whether foreign partners are still sending teams to Taiwan for training, running joint drills, and mounting multilateral responses to major disasters three to five years down the road.