Ep 296 | Psychological Defense and Practices to Manage Stress for the People of Taiwan: A Talk with Dr. Hsiao-Wen Lo

Talking Taiwan

Since 2020 Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense has been reporting the number of incursions China makes by sea and air into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone. These incursions now happen on a daily basis and already the tally for this year alone has surpassed the total number of occurrences that took place last year in 2023.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/psychological-defense-and-practices-to-manage-stress-for-the-people-of-taiwan-a-talk-with-dr-hsiao-wen-lo-ep-296/

Recently, on October 14th, just days after President Lai Ching-te’s Double Ten Day speech, China’s military initiated the "Joint Sword-2024B" drills, a simulated blockade which took place in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan. According to Taiwan’s MND, a record number of 153 Chinese military aircraft were detected around Taiwan within a 25-hour period.

We’ve previously discussed China’s gray zone military tactics and civil defense preparedness, on this podcast, but just as important is something called psychological defense.

In July we brought Talking Taiwan to the 53rd annual Taiwanese American Conference, East Coast that was held at West Chester University. I sat down with Dr. Hsiao-Wen Lo (駱筱雯) who spoke at the conference about Psychological Defense for the People of Taiwan.

We also got into a discussion about the related topics of trauma and

practices to manage stress and maintain good mental health.

This episode is sponsored in part by the Taiwanese American Council of Greater New York.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

· How Dr. Lo got interested in psychological defense

· What is psychological defense

· The importance of the mind-body connection

· Types of trauma: psychological trauma, generational trauma, collective trauma

· What is psychological warfare

· The Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s psychological warfare tactics

· The impact of long-term stress

· Post traumatic growth

· Fight or Flight states

· Strategies to deal with stress

· The erasure of Taiwan by China

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/psychological-defense-and-practices-to-manage-stress-for-the-people-of-taiwan-a-talk-with-dr-hsiao-wen-lo-ep-296/