President 
Lai Ching-te received the heads of delegations to the World Alliance for Disaster Management (WADM), an intergovernmental body Taiwan initiated, on September 21. Government representatives, local leaders, disaster-management experts and international aid partners from 21 countries are taking part, and Hsiao Huan-chang will serve as the alliance's first secretary-general, the Liberty Times reported.
What did the president say? Lai said WADM was the first intergovernmental organisation Taiwan had initiated in 55 years, and that he hoped it would build an international cooperation platform grounded in humanitarianism, strengthen the disaster prevention and relief capabilities of Taiwan's allies and partners, and let Taiwan contribute to the world. He recalled that 27 years earlier to the day, the 921 earthquake in central Taiwan killed more than 2,400 people and toppled more than 100,000 buildings, and that 21 countries sent 38 rescue teams that worked with Taiwanese search teams to save many lives, CNA reported. Twenty-seven years ago the world had helped Taiwan, and now it was Taiwan's turn to contribute, he said. Although each country faces different disaster challenges, the resolve and responsibility to protect people's lives are the same, Lai added.
What will Taiwan offer? Taiwan has designated September 21 as National Disaster Prevention Day, enacted a disaster prevention and protection act, built a framework running from prevention and preparedness through response to recovery and reconstruction, and set up a national fire-training centre in Zhushan, Nantou, which the president called the largest in Asia and the third-largest in the world. Under the alliance's cooperation framework, that centre will become a key disaster-training and exchange base for the Indo-Pacific, and Taiwan will offer joint training and drills, mutual support and information sharing, he said. On September 19, Lai said two years of preparation on whole-of-society defence resilience had left Taiwan confident that a "Taiwan model" could serve as an international reference, CNA reported. The alliance's founding members are 11 of Taiwan's diplomatic allies and Somaliland.
What did Palau say? Palau's Vice President Raynold Oilouch, one of the delegation heads, said Taiwan leads not only in semiconductors and medicine but also in disaster preparedness and management, CNA reported. He hoped partners would make good use of the alliance's global expertise and innovative framework to strengthen mitigation and resilience measures, and said ties between Palau and Taiwan were more solid than at any time in history, with Palau always a firm, loyal and unwavering ally. "Our commitment will never change," he said.
Figures referenced: Lai Ching-te. — JudgeMarket.
