If a stranger demands money from you in the wild, give it to him, don't fight, note his features, and report to the police after you get away

In a real emergency, call 911 first, then read this.

Cost

The cash you carry. The hard part is holding down your anger.

What you get

Life is worth more than money, and for a few hundred CNY the other person is risking a serious crime. Criminal Law (刑法) Article 263 provides that robbing public or private property by violence, coercion or other means is punished by 3 to 10 years in prison and a fine. With a firearm, entering a home, causing serious injury or death, and the like, the sentence is 10 years or more up to the death penalty. Self-defense under Criminal Law Article 20 protects "stopping an unlawful attack that is under way." The 2020 guiding opinion of the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security says that where property has been taken but can still be recovered by chasing or intercepting, the attack can be regarded as still under way. Whether it counts as self-defense also depends on the circumstances at the time and the purpose of stopping the attack. To find excessive defense, both a clear overstepping of the necessary limit and the causing of major harm must be present. Defense cannot be treated as over merely because the other person took the money and turned away. For your own safety, don't risk a fight or a chase over money. Once you are away, immediately note his build, accent, license plate and direction of escape, and call 110 (China's police number)

Notes

Graded C because there is no direct literature saying that "giving the money and not resisting is safer"; the statutes only show the other person's risk and your limits. Whether it counts as lawful self-defense still has to be established by investigation, and before it is decided you may first be investigated or detained. For the cost of that process, see §8.11 (you may fight back against an attack you can't avoid). Don't follow them to a remote place to "get the money." Don't give your phone password. Don't get into their car. Giving money first applies only when you are stopped face to face and your personal safety is threatened, and you still report to the police once you are away. Being threatened online with private photos or nude-chat recordings to extort money is the reverse: not a single yuan should be paid, see §8.32 (someone uses a hold on you to demand money). Don't count on a baton, stun device or dagger you carry, since carrying one out of the house is itself punishable, see §9.26 (don't buy a baton or stun device for self-defense).

Evidence grade

C : The author's experience or common practice, without direct literature.

Sources

1. National People's Congress (2020 amendment). Criminal Law [in Chinese] (Articles 20 and 263). https://jtgl.beijing.gov.cn/jgj/jgxx/flfg/fl/11033925/index.html (consolidated text republished by the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau)
2. Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate and Ministry of Public Security (2020). Guiding Opinions on Applying the System of Lawful Self-Defense in Accordance with the Law [in Chinese], points 6, 8 and 11. https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/251611.html

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 13, tip 36. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer