Episode Details

Earlier this summer, in June, I spoke with John Groot the author of An Emergency Preparedness Guide for Expats in Taiwan.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/an-emergency-preparedness-guide-for-expats-in-taiwan-our-discussion-with-survivalist-author-john-groot-ep-291/

John has made the book is available for free on his website and you download a copy of it by >> clicking herehttps://thecultureshack.blog/2023/12/04/emergency-preparedness-guide-for-expats-in-taiwan/

Taiwan is of course no stranger to natural disasters since it often experiences earthquakes and typhoons. What's raised eyebrows about John's book is that it has a section that specifically addresses what to do in case of a military attack by China.

Since 2020 China has upped its grey zone tactics by sending planes into Taiwan's ADIZ on a daily basis. Concerns about civil defense preparedness in Taiwan peaked in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, and then there was the PLA's military actions in August of 2022 in response to Nancy Pelosi, the U.S. House Speaker at the time visiting Taiwan.

John and I talked about the research involved in writing the guide, how people can be prepared in case of and emergency or disaster and why he felt it was necessary to include a section in the guide to address dealing with a possible invasion of Taiwan by China.

John Groot is a long-time Canadian expat in Taiwan. He is an independent writer-researcher and has done one book and many articles about Taiwan's history, culture, and geography. Recently he has focused more on the security situation with regards to Chinese aggression toward Taiwan. One of his major recent projects was a 68 page PDF e-book called "Resilience Roadmap: An Emergency Preparedness Guide for Expats in Taiwan."

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

· John's background and upbringing

· How John got interested in civil defense and emergency preparedness

· How Russia's invasion in Ukraine in 2022 heightened interested in civil defense in Taiwan

· How John learned about the NGO Open Knowledge aka OK Taiwan

· Documentary filmmaker Tobie Openshaw

· The PLA's military actions in response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August 2022

· The civil defense handbook that was issued by Taiwan's government and how it showed the difference between uniforms of Taiwan's military and China's PLA

· How many expats there are in Taiwan, and the different types of expats

· Issues with the path for expats to apply for nationality in Taiwan

· The research John did for the book

· Tobie Openshaw's experience with the 921 Earthquake in Taiwan

· Sweden's defense system

· Israel's military service system

· How