Taiwan to Post Criminal Investigator at Palau Embassy to Combat Transnational Crime

By: L.N. Reklai

KOROR, Palau — Taiwan will assign an agent from its Criminal Bureau of Investigation to its embassy in Palau to help local law enforcement combat a growing wave of transnational crime that officials say is originating from Asia, Taiwan’s Vice President Bi-khim Hsiao and Palau’s Minister of Justice Jennifer Olegeriil announced last week.

Hsiao, who disclosed the initiative during a recent address to Taiwan’s National Congress before reaffirming it during her visit to Palau, said the posting is part of a broader expansion of bilateral cooperation between the two Pacific allies.

“We will have members of our Investigation Bureau, of our Ministry of Justice, being posted here in our embassy to work with your law enforcement — to support them, whether it is in information exchange, training or law enforcement,” Hsiao said.

Olegeriil said the partnership fills a critical gap in Palau’s capacity to investigate organized crime networks with roots in the region.

“That engagement, that partnership, brings a unique and specialized focus in terms of how we’re responding to transnational organized crime and where we’ve identified it,” Olegeriil said. She added that Taiwan’s investigators would provide Palau with access to intelligence databases and regional networks that local officers currently lack.

“They have access to tons and volumes of data that will be very useful to our investigation in terms of that specific region,” Olegeriil said.

The minister said the arrangement revives a similar partnership that had lapsed, and that the renewed effort came through a formal request from President Surangel Whipps Jr. and her office. The primary threats Palau faces, she said, include drug trafficking, human trafficking and other forms of organized crime traced to China-based networks.

Hsiao also highlighted Taiwan’s experience with cybersecurity as a potential area of expanded cooperation. Taiwan, she said, recorded more than 170 million attempted cyberattacks in the first quarter of this year alone, giving it hard-won expertise in countering digital threats and state-sponsored disinformation campaigns.

“Cyber security is definitely an important area,” Hsiao said, noting that Taiwan participates in the Global Cooperation and Training Framework alongside Japan, Australia and Canada, and plans to include Palau in upcoming workshops.

Olegeriil framed the Taiwan partnership as one part of a broader network of security arrangements. She noted that Australia remains Palau’s primary partner in police capacity building, training and maritime patrol operations, while Japan provides critical support for maritime surveillance through vessels including the Kedam supplementary patrol boats. The United States, both officials noted, remains the primary security partner for both nations under existing compact and alliance frameworks.

“We are also coordinating some new initiatives and efforts so that we can all live in a secure, stable and peaceful environment,” Hsiao said.

Olegeriil also called on Taiwan, along with Australia and Japan, to go beyond infrastructure and development aid by encouraging private investors from their countries to participate in Palau’s economy, saying economic resilience is inseparable from security.

“You need to also be bringing in investors from your countries,” she said.