GCTF gathering in Brisbane, media leaders from 15 nations discuss disaster resilience, AI translation, and combating misinformation. (MOFA, Taiwan)
*This article is an English translation of the original Chinese version, available here. It was generated using AI and reviewed by an editor at TFC.
By Eve Chiu
The Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) held the international workshop “Communication during a Time of Crisis: Practical Approaches and Lessons Learned from the Pacific” from August 5–6, 2025, in Brisbane, Australia. The event explored how Pacific Island countries can strengthen media resilience to respond to crises such as natural disasters and public health emergencies. Dr. Eve Chiu, CEO of the Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC), was invited to share Taiwan’s experience, which drew great interest from participants.
Dr. Chiu emphasized that while Taiwan enjoys the highest degree of freedom of speech in Asia, it is also the most targeted country in the world by foreign disinformation campaigns. As such, fact-checking has become a crucial line of defense in safeguarding the information environment.
She introduced two digital tools employed by TFC to collect and monitor disinformation: a LINE chatbot, and the Fact-check Intelligence Dashboard developed in collaboration with Doublethink Lab. Through these tools, TFC both gathers disinformation reports from the public and leverages artificial intelligence to analyze social media content, enabling the organization to identify and prioritize fact-checking targets by tracking accounts and emerging issues.
Addressing topics of natural disasters and climate change—issues of particular concern to Pacific Island nations—Dr. Chiu cited a recent rumor predicting that “on July 5, 2025, a volcanic eruption and massive earthquake in the Ryukyu Trench would trigger a tsunami submerging Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines.” This prediction sparked widespread public anxiety. She explained how TFC responded by consulting scientists, publishing reports, producing explanatory podcast, videos, and disseminating accurate information through social media channels to reduce public panic and provide reassurance.
For Taiwanese society, the threat of military aggression from the Chinese Communist Party has long been a persistent concern, and it remains one of the most exploited themes for disinformation campaigns.
Dr. Chiu highlighted several examples, including: false claims that Taiwan’s U.S.-made Apache helicopters in the sky were Chinese military aircraft; An AI-generated video of a retired Taiwanese officer declaring he would immediately surrender in the event of an invasion; and disinformation suggesting that the United States would withhold the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan in response to President Lai Ching-te’s designation of China as a “hostile foreign force.”
In addition to the pressing challenges of climate change faced by these island nations, attendees also focused on the impacts and opportunities brought about by the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and expressed hopes for continued exchanges with Taiwan in fact-checking and related fields.
The workshop brought together more than 50 media professionals, scholars, and officials from 15 countries — Australia, Canada, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Japan, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tonga, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vanuatu. Taiwan’s Representative to Australia, Douglas Yu-Tien Hsu, and U.S. Embassy in Australia Chargé d’Affaires Erika Olson both attended and delivered remarks at the opening ceremony. This was also the first time Australia hosted a GCTF event since becoming a partner country.
Pacific Island nations sit at the frontline of U.S.–China geopolitical competition. On one side, represented by Australia and New Zealand, influence has long been exerted over the region through broadcast media coverage and program content exchanges. Australia’s public broadcaster ABC and New Zealand’s government-supported Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Limited (PCBL) play key roles in this effort.
The event’s host, the Griffith Asia Institute, arranged a visit on the first afternoon to ABC’s Brisbane headquarters — located by the riverside with stunning views — to showcase its emergency disaster response system and international broadcasting division, highlighting ABC’s important role to the Oceania media landscape.
One of the main concerns for participants was how the media can help their citizens better evacuate and protect lives and property during frequent extreme weather events such as cyclones (typhoons) and in the face of rising sea levels caused by global warming. Because each island country has different local languages, communication barriers often arise.
The potential use of AI for real-time translation became a topic of discussion. Beyond language gaps, another urgent need for island media workers is to replace technical meteorological jargon with more accessible language so that the public can fully understand disaster developments and respond appropriately.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pacific Island nations were similarly troubled by vaccine conspiracy theories and felt the impact of misinformation. Many journalists from the islands noted that word-of-mouth remains an important means of communication in their societies. In the vast Pacific region, radio broadcasting is still a key channel for obtaining information, and shortwave radios — rare in much of the world — remain popular here.
The Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) was established in 2015 by the United States and Taiwan to help Taiwan participate in the international community. Japan officially joined in 2019, Australia in 2021, and Canada became a formal partner in 2024. Over the past decade, GCTF has held nearly 90 events in Taiwan and around the world, with participants from more than 100 countries, covering topics such as public health, cybersecurity, women’s empowerment, climate change, and disaster response.
Eve Chiu is the CEO of Taiwan FactCheck Center