In a confrontation, step back and call the police instead of starting a fight
Assault can bring detention and fines; injury meeting criminal thresholds can bring prison. A mutual fight is generally not lawful self-defense. Retreating to a populated place and calling police is usually a better way to protect yourself. The right to defend against an ongoing unlawful attack remains, within its legal limits.
What it takes
Free. Move toward other people and surveillance cameras and report the incident. The difficult part is resisting insults, pushing, or retaliation.
What you may gain
Under China’s revised public-security law, assault or intentional injury can bring five to ten days’ detention and a RMB 500–1,000 fine. Group assault, attacks on protected vulnerable people, repeated assaults, or assaulting several people can bring ten to 15 days and RMB 1,000–2,000. Group fighting classified as provoking trouble can bring up to 15 days and a fine up to RMB 2,000. Criminal intentional injury carries up to three years for the basic offense and three to ten years for serious injury. Mutual combat is not ordinarily self-defense. However, if the other person initiates an obviously disproportionate attack, or continues attacking after you have tried to disengage, resistance may be recognized as defense. Excessive defense requires both a manifest excess over the necessary limit and major harm; even then, punishment must be reduced or waived. The revised public-security law took effect on 1 January 2026.
Context & considerations
The 2025 revision renumbered the public-security law: assault moved from former Article 43 to Article 51. Material citing only the old number is outdated. The injury category translated as “minor injury” is a technical forensic threshold, not an everyday description; its detailed standard was not verified here. Once an attacker has genuinely stopped, lost the ability to attack, or fled, chasing them to strike again is not defense.
Research & references
Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (2025). Revised Public Security Administration Punishments Law, Articles 30 and 51. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/202506/t20250627_699863.shtml; National People’s Congress (1997). Criminal Law, Articles 20 and 234. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/201802/t20180206_364975.shtml; Supreme People’s Court, Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and Ministry of Public Security (2020). Guidance on lawful application of self-defense, document 2020 No. 31, paragraphs 6, 9, 11, and 14. https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/251611.html.