The 10th Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) began this Tuesday and will be held through Thursday at the Grand Hotel in Taipei. 

Co-organized by the Foreign Ministry, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), and various other governmental and international organizations, this year’s workshop focuses on the role of media literacy in defending cyberspace. Government officials, media professionals, civil society representatives, and scholars from 26 countries across North America, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific region are attending the forum.

In her opening remarks at the event, Radio Taiwan International (Rti) Chairperson Cheryl Lai (賴秀如) noted that as of September 9 this year, Taiwan’s democracy has officially persisted longer than its period of martial law. She stressed that although Taiwan has become a vibrant democratic society since the transition and enjoys the benefits of free speech and free press, that does not mean there are no challenges. Lai pointed out that with the rise of AI, disinformation often spreads faster than it can be corrected. To improve societal resilience against fake news and cognitive warfare, it is therefore crucial to improve citizens’ media literacy.

Lai also pointed out that Rti has gained international recognition in recent years and that, as a key national infrastructure, it has been committed to combating information warfare. 

The GCTF was first established by Taiwan and the U.S. in 2015 with the goal of leveraging Taiwan’s unique strengths and expertise to jointly organize training programs on issues of mutual concern. With the subsequent addition of Japan, Australia, and Canada as official partners, it has become a multilateral platform; over the past decade, GCTF has held more than 90 international workshops and attracted thousands of experts and officials from 135 countries.