I am a foreign citizen working in a Chinese organisation, and I get exactly the same amount of leave as the Chinese staff. Stop spreading misinformation. Full Comment>>

Nowadays Chinese nationalists in internet forums often bring up police violence against black people in the USA as a way to deflect attention from China's problems It's especially ironic because most of these people don't especially like blacks themselves, and often consider them to be genetically inferior. Full Comment>>

The point is that the tone of the notice isn't appropriate. What need is there to say "no matter who you are or where you come from, you are in China so obey our laws"? This isn't serious, and makes foreigners feel liek they are being accused of doing something wrong. Why couldn't they just say "we ... Full Comment>>

A bit too many assumptions, perhaps? Full Comment>>

So Chinese society doesn't understand that change is needed, but foreigners shouldn't tell them so as not to offend them? It's true that a lot of foreigners (or at least Westerners) are too ready to pass judgment on things when they have only lived in China a short while and don't understand what goes on. But at the ... Full Comment>>

While I agree, in general, that Chinese society is xenophobic, I do think it's a bit unfair for people from English-speaking countries to "accuse" them of not wanting to learn English. Has it ever struck you that as a native English speaker, you happen to be able to access a huge amount of international ... Full Comment>>

China is huge. Objectively, how can all Chinese kids have a fluent English teacher from the beginning to the very end? It just ain't happening. Full Comment>>

Writing an article about this is reasonable. The point is that these articles always make sure never to touch the real issues. For instance, how can the law be applied "fairly" to foreigners when there is no concept of fairness in the Chinese legal system anyway? For instance, the Chinese themselves will ... Full Comment>>

Quite frankly, I think you are exaggerating the extent of the freedom Westerners enjoyed in the past. It is of course true that democracy historically comes from the West. Having said that, it is a fact that European societies were all autocratic until a few hundred years ago. The change started happening exactly ... Full Comment>>

Yes, on the other hand consider that until the 15-16th centuries, historians in Europe had to be equally careful, or they might be the ones losing their heads. All historical recollections from the past have to be taken with an equally big grain of salt. Full Comment>>

Yes, but you make it sound like the Chinese built the Wall because they saw any outsiders as "savages" as a result of xenophobia. This may be true, but building the Great Wall was a rational reaction to a military threat. The fact is that in the past China, for geographic reasons, was not generally in ... Full Comment>>

Yes, this articles is receiving exaggerated criticism here. It's not written with bad intentions, it's just simplistic in the way that much Chinese commentary can be (for instance failing to distinguish between "foreigners" and "Westerners"). Most of the points made are basically correct, except ... Full Comment>>

The English speaking programs on Chinese TV are only to be found on one channel, and they are mostly boring documentaries and propaganda masquerading as news. Some of the infrastructure is indeed "super-modern" in some Chinese cities, but so what? Does that mean that the people are all modern and educated? ... Full Comment>>

To be fair, the Chinese did not build the great wall of China because they wanted to isolated themselves, but rather because they had to defend themselves from the Mongols and the other nomadic peoples to the North who were aggressive and warlike. The fact that the Mongols and later the Manchu conquered China shows ... Full Comment>>

Thanks for your well thought-out analysis. It's refreshing to have someone who doesn't express unreasonable prejudice against the other side. Full Comment>>

I had some of the most amazing experiences out of my entire time in China spending the spring festival in little villages in Guangxi (where it's actually quite warm) and Shaanxi. Yes the living conditions were harsh, and yes now that I've been in China longer I fancy the idea of leaving the country for the whole ... Full Comment>>

The sort of conflicts which the article describes are ones which could really arise. On the other hand, I do think that phrases like "B gave so much to her daughter and her son-in-law's parents gave close to nothing: the difference is too great!" are biased and do nothing to help Chinese people understand ... Full Comment>>

A lot of Westerners have reached the realization that Jesus was not the son of god, and that they were wrong for the past two thousand years. Now it's China's turn with Confucius.... Full Comment>>

What about the First of May? Isn't that a foreign holiday? The Chinese authorities are always selective in what they label as "foreign", and thus unsuitable for China. Full Comment>>

To be fair though, not all Chinese girls like going out with white guys. While some of them will only go out with whites, there are many more who would never want to have a foreign boyfriend, because they are convinced the cultural gap is too big or something. I think you are making the mistake of assuming that the ... Full Comment>>

What reality? The reality of a fetus which doesn't even know of its own existence and feels no pain being aborted? Considering it to be a human being is simply sentimentalism, with a sexist purpose behind it. Full Comment>>

"It is very well known that no foreigner can understand such deeply complex language as Chinese. " Uhm, that's nonsense. I'm a foreigner, I first came into contact with Chinese when I was in my twenties, and I can read Chinese newspapers. It takes me a long time, but I can. It's true that Chinese is very ... Full Comment>>

While some of these points are true, some of them are nonsense. In my view the worst offender is point two. Foreigners agree with China's crackdown on drugs? That's nonsense. Most Westerners are appalled at the idea of executing drug dealers, which is what China does, and many of them would like their own countries ... Full Comment>>

Let me disagree with you on one point. It's untrue that "the rest of the world (except for Islamic nations) is in a different century". Throughout Asia, Africa and even Latin America, a lot of societies (not necessarily Islamic) have attitudes as backward of more backward than Chinese ones. Full Comment>>

Personally I avoid Chinese street food, but only because of my concern over gutter oil and other unsanitary and unhealthy practices. If it wasn't for that, I would be eating quite happily. It actually does taste good, and in principle would even be healthy. It's certainly better than hamburger and chips. By the way, ... Full Comment>>