advice on daughter's escape & evasion preps

[Voodoo_Man]

+1 for a good multi-tool and a knife or three.

Training is very important since just carrying a knife is almost pointless if you do not know how to use it.

The biggest impact to her safety is her ability to blend into her surroundings if required. She should not dress out of local norms, or do anything that would get attention to herself, which includes going out with others that do not have the same mindset. Foreigners, specifically Americans, in different countries do not know how to act correctly because of the norms they have lived with and freedoms in the US. So when going abroad to study or otherwise, specific things need to not be done. She should take a few days when she gets there and people watch, see what girls her age are wearing, how they are acting in public and what is expected of her. Then she needs to act accordingly.

Aside from that (since that is mostly mental stuff) she needs to do the standard "safety" and situational awareness stuff. Not going home the same way. Not waking up at the same time every day, etc...

[zacbol]

I just read an article today about international travel tips for female travelers. It is mostly advice on the subject from a former special ops guy. Here is the link http://www.theblaze.com/stories/top-...ecial-ops-guy/

If you go to the source article, one of the pieces of advice is this:

Urinating or soiling yourself in the event of an impending attack may be a deterrent.

Hell, that's probably true but I can't stop laughing.

[Shabazz]

My adult daughter (24) is about to begin a one year+ stint as a Christian Missionary in Southern China.

...

thanks for advice in advance from a dad who loves his daughter.

Missionary work is ILLEGAL in China. And no, I am not kidding. Have your daughter write "proselytizing Christian beliefs" on her Chinese visa application and see what happens.

Your daughter can GOT TO PRISON in China for missionary work. ALthough that is not likely, it is possible.

So I assume your daughter is using a cover story, like being a teacher, as her reason for being there. I have lived in and travelled extensively through China and I have seen this before. It is a really bad idea. But I suppose your daughter is bound and determined to do it and Chinese law be damned.

The Chinese police are pretty efficient at finding people they want. So your daughter's only hope of E&E if the Chinese police are after her is going cross country through roadless areas. All forms of public transportation will be off limits or she will be caught. Basically, your daughter either needs to walk south to Vietnam/Laos/Burma (and cross the border will not be easy), or she needs to walk to the coast, and bribe some fishermen to take her out to meet a Taiwanese fishing boat that will take her to Taiwan. Either way your daughter is going to be walking a few hundred miles. Yeah. Your daughter better be really ugly, or female companionship may be enjoyed by men who help her along thew way, willing or otherwise.

Can your daughter surive in the jungle for weeks without supplies? Has she ever done it? No. You were talking about energy bars. I doubt she is carrying a 90 day supply of energy bars with her. Can she navigate from one side of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area to the other without a map or compass? No. ****ing forget the E&E. It is not going to happen.

Keep in mind that Chinese people are very nosy and everyone knows everyone else's business. China is a former police state and they are used to informing on each other. So your daughter needs to be invisible and whiteys in China are not invisible.

Your daughter will also need large amounts of cash in local currencies to make good her escape. I would say a minimum of 100,000 renminbi plus about US10K each in Vietnamese and Taiwan currency. The gold helps. But it won't matter. The police will steal that money from her.

Overall I would say your daughter's best bet is to stay home and avoid breaking Chinese law. This will not be like a Matt Damon movie.

Now go pray that your daughter changes her mind.

[Shabazz]

Here is some info on how the Chinese police will torture your daughter if she is caught:

http://chinaview.wordpress.com/2007/...methods-photo/

Please allow me to repeat that your daughter's trip to China is a really bad idea.

[Shabazz]

Sorry to keep posting but I am just about jumping out of my skin thinking about your daughter.

You mention Vietnam, Laos and Burma. Is your daughter a fantastic swimmer? She will need to be in order to cross rivers to expand her escape options. If there is someone on the run, the bridges will be guarded.

And Chinese drivers no longer pick up foreign hitch hikers like they did in the 1980s because a lot of them have gotten in hot water doing it.

Carrying a knife is the equivalent of a felony offense in China. But I carry one anyway. Does your daughter know how to fight with a knife? No. Basic self defense course? Forget it. Either she spends 2 years x 5 yours per day learning and practicing hand to hand combat or she hasn't got a chance. The chinese cops may not look like much with those baggy green uniforms, but they practice a bunch of joint lock stuff.

And in the wilderness, China has had robbers for the past 5000 years and it still has them today.

[Shabazz]

Now try this on for size:

Two Chinese American missionaries were missing and at least four Christians remained detained Monday, July 13, following a police raid on a church in China's volatile Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

And...

The parents of an American college student, who went missing in China nearly eight years ago, are now certain he is being held in North Korea...

Why? Because he helped smuggle DPRK refugees out through China's southern border. And that is illegal.

Hmmm....

[Shabazz]

[QUOTE=Voodoo_Man;1361132.

The biggest impact to her safety is her ability to blend into her surroundings if required. ...[/QUOTE]

Completely impossible. Even American born Chinese have a different look than local Chinese in various parts of China. Blending in is not an option. I have been to places in China where the people had never seen a foreigner. Just how do you blend in there??

[Shabazz]

Also, the posters above are correct that every form of communication in China is compromised.

[Shabazz]

Sorry to post yet again. But I wanted to mention that maps printed in China are not accurate. All maps are approved by the PLA. The PLA modifies maps to make them inaccurate because they are afraid someone will buy a map in a bookstore and use it to invade China. Stupid, yes, but we are talking about China.

Also, India? Is your daughter going to walk from Guangxi province to the border with India? She woudl be lucky to make it there alive if she had a support team providing her with supplies and gear without police pursuit. That is like walking across both France and Germany. Since Tibet is locked down pretty tight, she would have to walk through Qinghai province (try to miss the swamp). And remember, she cannot use roads...

I hope your daughter will survive her trip.

[RFB]

Sir (OP),

You may not enjoy this post, but I intend no offense.

Historic orthodox (small o) Christianity understood as normative that females (one can find certain exceptions; that is the reason I speak of normative) operate under the provision and protection of a man. That man is either the father, or the husband. Within that paradigm, there is no suggestion whatsoever that there is some inherent lack of quality or dignity for a woman; just the opposite. (One does not see all of the protection rendered to the British Crown jewels and then obtain the impression that it is due to some dearth of value.) Historic orthodox Christianity also understands that females are not granted pastoral authority (reference Paul in 1 Timothy 2:12, one of the "Pastoral" Epistles.)

The best "survival" or SERE plan given the context would be to have a husband (and all that entails regarding provision and protection), or do not go. At least one of those options is not impossible. As I said, my answer is probably unpalatable, but it is rendered in the context of the stated Christian purpose of the trip.