At least in my opinion, the implications of using an edged weapon in a country you are not a citizen of, with laws that are impossible to know at the time, could be tremendous...and when I say "tremendous" I am talking like life in prison depending on the outcome. Allowing someone to get cash or replaceable objects was the best choice IMO. To me, that's probably the best way to escape that sort of situation in which no outcomes are guaranteed, and there was certainly a high probability that taking action could create a worse situation.
For use of an edged tool as an edged weapon, I think knives specifically designed for this usage are the best choice (ones that are LEGAL for carry wherever you take it), along with training on how to properly use them. Still, the implications of using an edged weapon can be huge. You will probably find yourself in a legal situation of major stress, and possibly really bad outcomes. When there are two or more people engaging in a struggle with edged weapons, quite often the end-result sucks for everyone (it's not unheard of for the outcome of a "knife fight" for all parties to wind up dead or permanently disfigured).
Like the US, China may have variation by locales within local 'defense laws' that protect victims who fight back, or may have different laws dictating what can be used/carried accordingly and how much you are protected if you are the victim. In some places in the US, these laws are strong, but in others, they are not or they are ambiguous. This should certainly factor into decisions regarding this topic. While you often hear the saying about being tried versus being carried, it's never really that simple if being tried means you could lose your freedom for the rest of your life (that isn't a whole lot better than being carried, IMHO).
The design of most practical edged weapons tends to favor the 'strike-->run' idea in that you retreat to escape as quickly as you can with the minimal amount of force required to get out of the situation. That functions under the (generally supported) reasoning that the longer you stick around, the more likely you are to be incapacitated or die (which strongly contrasts most media and some not so practical training). In the best case scenario, a knife is not the best weapon for a variety of reasons, and in many self-defense situations it will have limited and even no usage value. In certain situations, it could even make the outcome worse. Most producers of edged weapons with practical usage have noted that their designs are really one of "absolute last resort" when there are zero other options on the table and the situation has reached a scenario of really-bad-to-the-tenth-power (Spyderco included).
So the bottom line is that the moment an edged tool is deployed, presented, or used as an edged weapon in these sorts of scenarios, absolutely everything changes, and by no means is the change necessarily for the better.
