Taiwan is setting up a national body to link its city and county governments for joint diplomacy abroad — a rare cross-party move ahead of November elections.

• Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu and Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung jointly launched the initiative, pitching it as above party politics.
• The group is meant to be a platform for cities to run their own foreign outreach and join global governance networks.
• Taiwan lacked any such body, unlike Europe, the US, Japan and South Korea — a gap noticed at a democracy forum earlier this year.
• Taipei's Chiang Wan-an and Taichung's Lu Shiu-yen backed it, pointing to climate, disasters, aging and AI as problems no single city can handle alone.
• Taiwan wants to host the secretariat of a still-forming global local democracy initiative.

Outlook: Expect a push to formalize the union and win the international secretariat, though election-season politics could slow buy-in.