Opposing is almost never a good survival tactic. In a rare case where it is, you likely wouldnt know when it is and when it isnt.
Tao teaches you to adapt to your environment, and the principle of non-contending adapts the best to environment, because when you dont contend, not only are people much less likely to oppose to you and much less likely to harm you, but you learn new ways to avoid danger, such as retreating from danger or learning to avoid it.
It is like the example of an infant. Infant does not contend and he does not oppose, yet he is protected and survives.
So logically, if infants who are weak and without any knowledge can survive when not contending and not opposing anyone, then their survival strategy works for those who are weak and without knowledge. Since most people are without knowledge, then the same strategy works for them too.
Naturally, there are cases where opposing is the only option which guarantees survival, but most people cannot recognize the case from case. Thus, most people will oppose when they dont need to and bring harm to themselves.
But Tao is not based on survival alone, but for the benefit of the world. Tao, which teaches people not to use force, sets an example for the world. So even if a person dies because that person refused to resort to force, isnt that still better than relying on force? This is not any uncommon religious teaching. Jesus died and refused to use force to save himself. So you could say that the largest world religion copied teachings from Tao.
Further, Tao teaches person to work for the benefit of all, so person will be valued by all. This further improves person's position and probability of survival, because if you help both good and bad people equally, even bad people will have less reason to harm you.
Thus, there is no response to a situation where you are surrounded by bad people, other than to not contend, and if such response works the best when there are only bad people around you, then it will work even better in regular life where there is less bad people around you.
Further, Tao teaches to let go of one's desires in order to act effortlessly. Tao does not tell you to work hard. Tao teaches people to avoid exhaustion and act in a way which requires less effort and less force. It teaches the path of least resistance.
impressive