1 Emergency Management in Taiwan: Learning from Past and Current Experiences Yi-En Tso 1 David A. McEntire, Ph.D. 2 Introduction Located on the East side of Asia, Taiwan is an island with significant risks for natural disasters. In 2005, the World Bank report entitled “Natural Disaster Hot spots – A Global Risk Analysis” indicated “Taiwan might be the most vulnerable [country] to natural hazards on Earth, with 73% of land and population exposed to three or more hazards (Lin 2008). The five major natural hazards confronting Taiwan are: typhoons, earthquakes, landslides, floods, and debris flow (Lin 2008). Making matters worse, in October 2010, the population in Taiwan was estimated at 23,150,923 (ROCMOI 2010) and it is spread across a total land area of 35,980 km². This makes Taiwan one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with a rate of 643.4 people per km². Taiwan is therefore vulnerable to many natural hazards that cause major economic losses. Such disasters arouse citizens’ concern, but also stimulate government officials to develop an improved emergency management system with the application of advanced hazard mitigation technologies to reduce the negative consequences of disasters (Chen, Wu, and Lai 2006). With this brief introduction in mind, the following paper will provide contextual information about Taiwan. It will then discuss hazards, vulnerability and disasters in Taiwan along with a case study about the Napthta Cracking Plant disaster. The paper concludes with an exploration into lessons other nations may glean from Taiwan. Background Taiwan is situated in East Asia in the Western Pacific Ocean and is located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. In 1684, the Qing Empire administrated Taiwan as 1 Yi-En Tso is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Public Administration at the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas. 2 Professor, Emergency Administration and Planning, Department of Public Administration, College of Public Affairs and Community Service, University of North Texas, Box #311340, Denton, Texas 76203-1340.