Getting Kidnapped on Business In China

I am always astonished when I hear anyone would create a joint venture with a Chinese entity. Let the Chinese manage China.  Just buy FOB.  There is no upside to even a JV, but I had no idea how bad the downside was.  Here is a "how-not-to-get-kidnapped-doing-business-in-china review.

A few weeks ago, a China risk consultancy contacted us regarding their own China legal matter. During our conversation, the caller went off and said that he really liked our posts on how to avoid getting kidnapped in China. He then told me that so far this year, not a single week had passed without his company having been called in to deal with a “hostage or hostage-like situation.” He told me that such incidents are way up this year from 2012 and that 2012 had double the incidents of 2011. He said that nobody seems to believe how prevelant this incidents are but that we should keep writing about them because they are “happening like crazy and with China’s economy continuing to soften, they will only increase.”

In forty years of dealing with China, I have never personally heard of such a case, and only once before in the news.  Certainly the tactic of leaving China to the Chinese avoids this problem, but I wonder if having a lawyer involved somehow precipitates getting kidnapped.  I mean first a lawyer gets you set up in China, and then when things goes bad, is there to negotiate your release.

Ka-ching, Ka-ching.

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