From November 12 to 14, 2025, the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) held its International Workshop on “Building a Resilient Energy Future” in Taipei. Co-hosted by Taiwan’s MOFA, the Energy Administration, and the representative offices of the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, the three-day workshop brought together 109 international experts and domestic representatives from government, industry, and academia across 20 countries. The program featured sessions on energy transition, grid resilience, scalable renewable energy, circular economy innovation, energy efficiency, distributed energy systems, and critical mineral supply chains.
The opening ceremony included remarks from Robert Fergusson, Representative of the Australian Office, and Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin. Ruth Bradley-Jones, Representative of the British Office Taipei, also delivered remarks and formally announced the United Kingdom’s accession as a new GCTF partner. The workshop additionally featured a keynote speech by Kerry Schott, Chair of the Australian Carbon Market Institute, who shared policy insights and international best practices on building resilient energy futures.
Dr. Tsaiying Lu, Director of the Energy Security & Climate Resilience research program at DSET, presented in the final session, “Securing Critical Mineral Supply Chains for a Resilient Energy Future.” She began by offering an overview of China’s recent export controls on gallium, germanium, graphite, and other critical minerals, underscoring growing concerns about supply chain security in light of China’s increasing willingness to leverage its refining and processing dominance as a geopolitical tool.
Using the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park as a case study, Dr. Lu highlighted the deepening cooperation between China and Indonesia in nickel production and battery material supply chains. She noted that while Indonesia has succeeded in attracting manufacturing to remain onshore, it continues to face long-term structural dependence on China for technology, capital, and market access—forming an asymmetric interdependence. She warned that unless partners such as the United States and Japan significantly expand investments in Indonesia, supply chain vulnerabilities may further concentrate around China.
Turning to Taiwan’s policy landscape, Dr. Lu emphasized the strategic importance of nickel and graphite by examining Taiwan’s emerging drone battery manufacturing sector. Although Taiwan is becoming a trusted supplier of drone batteries, its upstream dependence on Chinese critical minerals remains high. She pointed to Japan’s state-backed diversification initiatives and Australia’s rapidly expanding critical minerals projects as potential models for Taiwan. Taiwan, she argued, could benefit from adopting similar approaches: deploying government tools and funds to invest in overseas mining projects, deepening cooperation with like-minded partners, aligning sustainability standards internationally, and pursuing joint ventures in emerging supply chain projects.
Other speakers on the panel included Annie Liu, Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer of Mangrove Lithium, and Jung-Yu Liao, Manager in the Materials Industry Research Department at ITRI. During the Q&A session, the speakers addressed questions on investment timing and profitability, expectations regarding China’s next moves, and potential global responses. Key takeaways underscored the rising importance of vertical integration, the significant learning curve associated with overseas mining investments, and the urgent need for countries to strengthen the resilience of their critical mineral supply chains.
