Foreigner-bashing rises amid China's domestic woes

I bet that many Tibetans, Uigurs etc..are also sick and tired of pesky foreigners, all from BEIJING, the Han Chinese are not welcome in tightly controlled parts of occupied Tibet etc...

Beijing has been pressing the "foreigner button" for many years and then putting the brakes on. But they are walking a tightrope and one of these days it could backfire in a big way.

Foreigner bashing on the rise in China and the rest of the world too... sigh.

Simple - don't go there... Been there once*, saw that, compared with developed countries (especially Japan), China indeed lacks class, manners and cleanliness.

They certainly don't lack the pride: "China - the greatest of all nations, with the kindest people in the world".. NOT!!

*Once was enough.

and Mr Ishihara in Tokyo would never do that....not to mention japan as a whole...I like it here but latent discrimination is a facet of daily life..

Seems like China is following pretty much the same path as Japan did/does but with more potential nastiness in store(from a physical sense) for non-Chinese.

You see the same kind of poor understanding of how their own country & the rest of the world interact & whats good, bad, or wrong etc etc.

But at the same time idiot foreigners everywhere need to be dealt with, but in an appropriate manner, cut down on the sensationalism, like they are after "our" money, women etc, I guess to an extent its expected but hopefully Chinese will grow up...................unlikely.

Like I have said many times, China cud very easily explode/implode or both, this blurb shows they can/will get collectively hot under the collar pretty easily! Glad I dont live in China

I've been to over 15 countries including China. China, by far, was the worst. Actually I can't even compare China with the other countries because I really enjoyed the other places. There was absolutely nothing pleasant about China from my experience.

Rude foreignrs. Chinese, especially the ex-commie varierty, are among the rudest peoople I have ever encountered.

On my trips to South Africa, there is a convergence for those of us from KX and those from China at Dubai. Just by the talking and walking you can separate the people. Manner is lacking in China and its kind of irony when they say they are the best of the world. They talk loud, spit around, throw trash everywhere. Dont wanna live in their country

Xenophobia has always been the norm in China; it's just that social media is making it more apparent to those outside of the country. There seems to be some imperative to attack someone, and if they are to be prevented from causing civil strife by attacking each other, their attentions must be directed elsewhere.

Chinese complaining about rude foreigners sounds a bit like the pot calling the kettle black to me...

China (including Taiwan) is the only country in Asia I've ever visited where a white foreigner can board a public bus and see a local pat the empty seat beside them as an invitation to sit down and talk --- making it the diametric opposite of Japan, where when you sit down beside people they get up and move. Chinese are outgoing and have great curiosity about the outside world. Unfortunately its people live in an information vacuum that makes them easy targets for agitation. I certainly would not want to downplay xenophobia, but feel it's also correct to point out that whatever violence or hatred Chinese may direct toward outsiders in their midst, they deliver against their fellow Chinese many times over.

More two-dimensional thinking in a three-dimensional world. But it's worse than the pot simply calling the kettle black; China has a real genius for selective historical memories.

Not good

There catching up to Japan on all levels!

Sorry folks, but I have to agree with Virtuoso above.

It is so easy to don those glasses. If some Chinese people put on racial glasses, does that mean we should do so in return?

The times I always enjoy are those rare encounters where the differences melt away and something common is enjoyed. I am talking about non-sexual encounters, although sex is a good example, which is why the Chinese authorities will use Chinese men or women as bait for their honey traps.

Besides, there is foreign trash there, as everywhere. The Russian cellist with his boots on the train seat might be a lame example, but some people are so wrapped up in their own problems they lose any sensitivity towards their surroundings.

As the old saying goes "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel", the scoundrels in this instance being the corrupt, unelected despots running China.

I have to laugh when I read about loudmouths bemoaning foreigners stealing "their" women. If the Chinese hadn't aborted and murdered so many of their baby girls over the years there wouldn't be a shortage now. If Chinese ladies choose to move overseas, to somewhere with a clean environment, rule of law and a far better quality of life, who can blame them?

scrote how do u know they are corrupt? can u prove it?

China going mad? Get hell out!! They are so unreasonable. Foreigners are now being used as scapegoats during economic down time, and they become an easy target.

China has not seen anything worst yet. Wait for another 10 years, the One Child policy will eventually backfire and will destroy social infrastructures of China. There will be more social unrests snd turbulance ahead.

If Scrote could prove the Politburo members were corrupt , some Chinese politician's wife will poison him with cyanide.

Really, how do these Chinese politicians have son's rolling around in Farrari's and owning multi-million dollar businesses? They are not getting rich from their salary. They are peddling influence. We don't need to see the details and facts to see that someone without a Farrari or multi-million dollar company before being a politician and having so much more afterward may be a sign of influence peddling and corruption. Or maybe they won the lottery or had a rich uncle....

Besides, Bo Xi (the recent politician who was ousted for bugging the chairman and for his wife getting the British agent killed) was known for cracking down on corruption. He ran on that platform. So, he thought there was corruption in China.

The British guy wasn't an agent. He did have a Aston-Martin with a "00" license tag.

I meant to expand the statement to try and make it funny and posted it before I did.

Sorry, my last post didn't expand on the "British agent" to make it funny. I posted before I got back to it. I meant to call him a "00" agent.

He wasn't a British agent, but he had an Aston-Martin with a "00" license plate. He was supposed to only be a businessman.

what is happening in china now happened here not so long ago especially with Mr isihara in Tokyo.How is that not on topic??can we only talk about xenophobia in beijing and noy japan??

Ha, ha, ha. China got well and truly owned in this thread. Look at all the thumbs supporting the view that China is backwards, trashy, selfish, dirty and lacks manners.. ha, ha, ha...

People only put up with the Chinese because they make cheap crappy exports.

I say get all the foreigners out of China, deport all Chinese living abroad back to the mother ship. Then refuse to allow Chinese visas, so they are stuck in their own miserable country... Leave them to themselves.

Just think about that. The class nations will start to rebuild their manufacturing plants again. Jobs will increase and the economy will benefit...

Wow. When I read it I just thought it sounded like here (Japan). Go figure.

A paper about xenophobia in China (and its use by the ruling elites to keep control) and you can see dozens of anti-Chinese racist comments. How ironic.

I won't pretend to be any kind of expert in Chinese culture, but I will relate to you guys my sole intimate experience with that country in a few short anectdotes.

I had a layover in Guangzhou Airport on my way to Cambodia once. I have never been in another place where I felt more disgusted to touch anything. For lunch, I ate a dingy bowl of noodles which was overpriced by at least 1000 yen. My friend and I were neglected by our host and waitress, and when they did at length either bring our food or our check at the end, both were literally thrown onto the table. Literally. The waitress had our food and dropped it onto the table in front of us. The little clipboard the check was on was tossed in our direction from beside the table.

After that, we waited for our connection. I sat for hours and watched as different people spit onto the floor as they walked by or, at best, into the trash can near me. One man sat 10 seats away and, with his phone on maximum volume, played through his list of ringtones over and over for 20 minutes. He must have had over 100, but when he'd listened to them all, he simply started over again. Eventually, he seemed to get bored and finally wandered off.

At one point, a cleaning woman came to empty the trash can that people had been spitting into. In doing so, she dropped 2 discarded french fries on the ground. Noticing them, she took her tongs and tried to pick them up to put them into her cleaning cart. After trying a handful of times and having the fries fall from the tongs each time, she grunted, kicked the trash can savagely, and stormed away, leaving the refuse on the ground.

I was in China a total of 5 hours that day. I never left Guangzhou Airport, but I believe I experienced a microcosm of the country on that day. It was a truly awful experience, and I hope I never have occasion to go back.

Bit of a cheek to claim foreigners in China are trash. If they were trash they wouldnt get noticed for the amount of actual trash that is everywhere in that country.

After my first and absolute last ever trip to that country l can say they need to look at their own peoples attitudes and actions before worrying about foreigners. The country has huge issues with cleanliness, manners, attitude. If they want to lure tourists they sure do need to change a few things. As we said when we left the country the sites where nice but they would be a lot better without the Chinese there.

The headline, what the man said, and his later attempts to justify it are all quite different. But if he said what they say he said ("get rid of foreign trash") that is the only thing that will make the headlines, and people will follow it, thus making his later attempts to justify simply empty words. If someone is not abiding by the cultural norms of the target country, I'm all for people speaking up, within reason (saying "get out" is not), but that's not what this anti-foreign movement is doing -- it's simply targeting foreigners regardless of the 'expat community' he claims he is not targeting.

"Earlier this month, an amateur video con China’s Twitter-like sites showed a British man allegedly sexually assaulting a Chinese woman near a Beijing mall and then being beaten up by Chinese men."

This is good. Japan should follow suit by beating up white men who steal Japanese women.

China’s nationalism occasionally bubbles over into xenophobia. Scores of foreign missionaries were slaughtered in the 1900 anti-West Boxer Rebellion. Chinese youth beat up foreign diplomats during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution.

“This is a country that could be turned xenophobic very quickly, because people in school are still taught about the Opium Wars and all the unfairness that has happened in the past,” said McGregor, who called the rising nationalism “worrisome.”

The death of British businessman Neil Heywood who was mentioned in the above 'high scandal' was definately he caused by his own and he was doing sneaky things in China, also an affair with a married Chinese woman was totally unacceptable in Chinese society. he was not working for British intelliences but his role was still depends on investigation. He was nothing more than greed, lust and selfish and at the end he met his day! The xenophobic social mania was definately nothing to do with the economic woes but the 'misconducts' of a foreigner who was naives and misbehaviour! I dont feel sad about his death although that was for sure a homicide! Neil Heywoopd was seeking too much both in terms of money and woman...etc finally he lost everything including his life. He shouldnt mess with Chinese officials and women,those weakness were something westerners lacking the awareness! A price has to pay!

The US 's support and assisstance the Philipines including helding military exercise in south China sea was an unaccusable reason that causing Chinese frustraions. Like a thug helping a thief to steal Chinese isles in the south China sea, that has brought back bitter memories of Japanese army invading manchuria back in 1931! You cant blame China's anger and awareness! America has been playing fire around China since Bush Jr and Obama! I mean Mr Obama failed to blackmail China's to buy more US debts and he kicks out chaos and hostilities over east and south China sea last year and this year! At last China has to ally with Russia to held a large naval drills in the yellow sea as a reply to US naval activities with Vietnam, the philipines and Japan! If Mr Obama feels not good for the domestic woes of US economy, the defeat in afghanistan and pessimistic over his own election later this year.......why choosing China and the people of Chinese being a scapegoat! If the president of US is uncompetences to recovery his own country, he/she should resign instead of fabricating China is a threat! the people of China were innocence, they have done nothing wrong! So if there isa finger pointing at China for xenophobia, please attention there were three fingers pointing back from Chinese, America is waging wars at China and Chinese people! So blame those who warmongers in america not Chinese...please!

Mr Obama is talking wars at China, what if you are the Chinese people who has never bombed Pearl harbour is tolerating his threats everyday? America was ashamed from two defeats, Iraq and afghansitan! The most ironic thing is america neeeds more Chinese money to buy there debts! Tahts why there exist a hostilitiy in the sino-America relationship! The US is no where to recovery after two wars and now blaming China, the people of China were real scapegoats not foreigners in Beijiang, they were hooligans just knows drugs, alcoholics and begging!

Yang railed against the “unemployed people from America and Europe who come to China to take our money, traffic in humans and spread heresy to encourage emigration.” This is definately a real 'peril'!

Wow, I don't know where to begin.

First, the video of the Russian guy putting his feet on the headrest of the seat where a woman was sitting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HBi4_xhrt0

That was absolutely horrible and if that happened in Japan, I wouldn't be surprised if people got mad. The Russian guy even knows how to speak some Chinese.

The problem with these incidents is that people start grouping all foreigners like those nasty individuals, and this happens in all countries, including Japan. And I don't, for one minute, think racist attacks only happen in China. Look at Russia, and even Australia (the Indians and Chinese seem to be targeted a lot in Ozzie). Actually foreigners (the white kind) can be treated quite well (a lot better than overseas Chinese I can tell you), as long as you behave. Yes, just like Japan and Korea, there's a hierarchy and the whites are right at the top.

I'm not going to pretend that many mainland Chinese (notice I use mainland - some posters seem to include every single damn person with Chinese blood) have atrocious manners and show unbelievable behavior. Just ask the people in Hong Kong - they had to deal with a lot of the sh*t lately. I've been there several times, only once since the 90's and the amount of spitting, shouting, lack of service, crazy driving can drive you nuts. But some of you should also get to know some of them. Villagers, especially, may seem rustic, but they can be some of the kindest and warmest people you'll meet. And in the cities, I was surprised to meet some nice people too (who weren't shouting their heads off).

WillB:

Chinese complaining about rude foreigners sounds a bit like the pot calling the kettle black to me...

When they say rude, they mean putting your feet right next to someone's face or trying to molest an innocent woman. If it were me, I would definitely not be using the word 'rude', that's for sure.

globalwatcher:

Wait for another 10 years, the One Child policy will eventually backfire and will destroy social infrastructures of China.

And what's the alternative? A doubling of the population? You do realize India is a ticking timebomb? Even my Indian friends wanted something done in India, but said all hell would break lose because of the Muslims. Sure there'll be problems, but in the long term, a smaller population will be better. I had a catholic friend who was convinced the planet had enough resources for an infinite number of people - yes, he used the word 'infinite' and he majored in mathematics.

globalwatcher:

Wait for another 10 years, the One Child policy will eventually backfire and will destroy social infrastructures of China.

Pukey2May. 23, 2012 - 07:55PM JST

And what's the alternative?

Exactly, Purkey! I do not think there is any alternative for China, but they are not spending enough for Proactive Family Planning programs including Early Sex education carriculum at school and providing "Condom" to the poors.

Current Chinese population growth rate is still 17.1%, Nigeria 62.4% Pakistan 55.3% India 40.2% while Japan is 4.7%.

Later, Beijing authorities announced a three-month crackdown on foreigners without valid visas or work documents, illustrating its campaign with a graphic of a clenched fist. Microbloggers called the move overdue and urged police to round up foreign drug dealers.

I wonder if Japan did this to all of those Chinese "massagie" and other Chinese women who are working here on expired visas here in Japan would there be protests. Seems to me a bit of a double standard. Chinese acting badly overseas and in some places overstaying their visas, but back in China everyone is expected to follow the rules.

He exhorted the authorities to: “Identify the foreign spies who look for Chinese women to live with and whose occupation is to collect intelligence and compile maps and GPS data for Japan, Korea and the West while pretending to be tourists.”

That's funny, we get the same threat warnings about Chinese women and people doing the same thing in the US.

protect innocent girls

The only people innoncent girls need to be protected from are Chinese people themselves. With China's "One Child" policy, people are determing the sex of unborn children with a preference for boys has caused an imbalance in the male/female ratio. So in rural areas, you see men without the possibility of finding a mate.

glabalwatcher:

Current Chinese population growth rate is still 17.1%, Nigeria 62.4% Pakistan 55.3% India 40.2% while Japan is 4.7%.

Those are stats for the period 1990-2010. The stats for NOW are a lot lower in the case of China. Hell, Japan's growth is now negative!

Alphaape:

So no parent in China want girls? I'm guessing there won't be any Chinese female babies born soon. You really ought to stop judging a whole race of people just because of the actions of some.

wonder if Japan did this to all of those Chinese "massagie" and other Chinese women who are working here on expired visas here in Japan would there be protests.

No, I say good riddance. Illegals and overstayers shouldn't stay. And no, why should there be protests? But you should consider who are the customers are and who the pimps are. They wouldn't be here if there wasn't any demand.

I am saddened by many of these comments. I am by no means pro China, in fact I am very anti-Chinese in regards to its foreign policies and territorial issues. However, how can anyone have the right mindset to judge all Chinese with a single broad brush. I have met many Chinese, both unpleasant and nice people over my lifetime and these experiences have allowed me to stay patient and level headed despite major annoyances. I am not incorruptible but at least in my conscience I will know that judging an entire nation's people is not only unfair but immature. Likewise, I hope that while all the posters on JT, while many are biased against Japan, also find good things about the country and don't stick to generalizations and broad assumptions because of its many unpleasant aspects.

Saw the vid thx pukey!

The guy is a real no-class a-hole!

You really ought to stop judging a whole race of people just because of the actions of some

.@ Pukey2: with the male to female ratio in China, you have a lot of single able bodied men with no one to marry. So looking back in history what do societies with large male populations do? Normally go to war since they have a multitude of men willing to fight. In the countryside of China, especially close to the North Korea border, NK escapees that are women have been reported as being sold to Chinese men in forced marriages.

Not judging the whole race, just pointing out what is happening.

I was lucky, only stop I made in China was in Hong Kong, and my gf at the time said that even people in Hong Kong despised "mainland" Chinese behaviour, manners, and cleanliness. An old Japanese penpal I had also said "don't go to China, its very filthy."

I kind of want to visit the mainland at least once, but even in the pictures and videos I've seen I notice how much smog alone can be at any city in China. I've been lucky so far to not have run into some of the rude elements in Chinese society, but I can tell they're there. Blaming the "foreigners" never helps solve the main problem when there is one. China used to have some wisdom, but thats been gone for too long I see.

I was going to add my negative comments about Chinese but all have been said already, can’t add any more, except that some Chinese have said the same thing about themselves, and they are motivated only by money.