American Boss Held Hostage In China; 3 Steps To Avoid Being A Hostage Victim In China!

An American boss said Monday he has been held hostage for four days in China by workers at his medical supply plant by in a labor dispute.

The American boss in China being held hostage said 80 workers, demanding severance packages, said the workers "had been blocking every exit around the clock and depriving him of sleep by shining bright lights and banging on windows of his office."

The boss is Chip Starnes, 42, a co-owner of Coral Springs, Florida-based Specialty Medical Supplies. After 10 years of creating jobs in China, the boss is shocked he would ever be held hostage by his own workers.

"I feel like a trapped animal," Chip Starnes told The Associated Press on Monday from his first-floor office window, while holding onto the window's bars. "I think it's inhumane what is going on right now. I have been in this area for 10 years and created a lot of jobs and I would never have thought in my wildest imagination something like this would happen."

The hostage of the American boss reflects growing uneasiness among workers about China's slowing economic growth and the sense that growing labor costs make country a less attractive place for some foreign-owned factories. The account about local officials coercing Starnes to meet workers' demands - if true - reflects how officials typically consider quashing unrest to be a paramount priority.

It is not rare in China for managers to be held by workers demanding back pay or other benefits, often from their Chinese owners, though occasionally also involving foreign bosses.

A Chinese laywer gave advice about how not to be held hostage in China:

"Every single time to our clients who are laying off workers in China or closing a facility in China or allegedly owing money in China is to stay in the United States for all negotiations."

-If you are in a debt dispute with a Chinese company, the best thing to do is not go to China at all.

 -If you must go to China, think about using a bodyguard or two and think very carefully about where you stay and where you go. Most importantly, be very careful with whom you meet.

-Consider preemptively suing the alleged creditor somewhere so that you can very plausibly claim that you have been seized not because you owe a debt, but out of retaliation for having sued someone. If you are going to sue, carry proof of your lawsuit with you at all times while you are in China.