With the recent disappearances and physical assaults on female Chinese citizens in mainland China, the Beijing police made an effort to educate students and women on personal safety and self-defense.
On August 12, 19-year-old female student Gao Qiuxi was reportedly missing in Jiangsu province capital, Nanjing. The student was last seen walking home from school. After a month, Nanjing police confirmed that Gao was murdered the day she went missing, and her valuables had been stolen.
To prevent any similar incident, Beijing Public Security Bureau policeman Cao Zhigang gave students at the Beijing Film Academy the basics of self-defense. He also reminded them to avoid riding unlicensed taxis and refrain from going out unaccompanied at nightfall.
Officer Cao advised further that, if they have to inevitably ride a suspicious cab, they should take note of the vehicle's plate number. Keeping in contact with family and parents during the ride would also save them from harm, he said.
"Before you travel or head back to school, you should inform your families of your routes and keep in touch with them throughout the way," said Cao.
Supplementing the defense tip, another officer from the Bureau, Wang, suggested that bringing protective devices such as pepper spray, especially for unaccompanied females, is extremely helpful.
However, the use of such devices that could "cause excessive damage" to others was discouraged by Wang Dawei. The professor at the People's Public Security University of China advised to use alarms that give off loud alerts to deter malicious individuals from attacking and to get the attention of bystanders and authorities.