Taiwan has founded its own international organization, the World Alliance for Disaster Management (WADM), a diplomatic win for Taipei as it seeks more room on the world stage despite pressure from Beijing.

• Eleven of Taiwan's diplomatic allies plus Somaliland signed on as founding members.
• Governments, disaster agencies, and groups from 21 other countries, including the US, Japan, the UK, Germany, and the Philippines, joined as observers or partners.
• President Lai Ching-te called it Taiwan's biggest breakthrough in international organization participation in more than 50 years.
• The alliance will run joint training, joint drills, mutual aid, and information sharing across early warning, disaster response, and recovery.
• Lai said two years of "whole-of-society resilience" work has produced a "Taiwan model" other countries can now copy, covering natural disasters, man-made crises, and support for the military if needed.

Outlook: Taiwan plans to position itself as a hub for cross-border disaster cooperation, building on Asia's largest firefighter training center in Nantou and US NFPA standards to deepen ties with allies and partners.