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Enoch Wu wants to give every Taiwan citizen the know-how to protect their community. As the threat level rises from Beijing—which considers the self-ruling island a renegade province—Wu is providing civilians emergency-response training for both natural and man-made disasters. Workshops for his Forward Alliance NGO—backed but not financially supported by the U.S. government—are booked weeks ahead. An increasingly prominent adviser to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, Wu navigates the intersection of politics, diplomacy, and citizenship.

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify that the U.S. government supports Forward Alliance’s work but does not contribute money to the NGO.

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Write to Charlie Campbell at charlie.campbell@time.com.

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