I was informed last night that during the week, a number of foreign teachers (including one I know personally) were detained by the Baotou City Police and are now in the process of being deported. It appears that their visa and/or employment status does not conform to the foreign teacher employment laws in China.
One of the foreigners who was telling me about the detention of our mutual friend, told me 'his own story' about his first teaching job in China, and how he had been conned into working illegally.
Now I know that the Politically Correct idiots have this insane idea that if you are 'Ethnic' or 'Colored', or at the very least are not of a 'European Judeo-Christian' background, that you are (for some strange reason) a completely law abiding citizen; a totally righteous individual who would do no harm to anyone - but the reality of life is that people are people irrespective of race, color or creed, and while it may come as a shock to those same Politically Correct individuals to hear it, 'being Chinese does not mean that you are a wonderful person'. Many are downright crooks!
With my own experiences in mind, and as a direct result of emails received, in December of 2010 I published an article Warning Foreigners of the shady Chinese characters who try to con White Western Suckers into working illegally.
Even since I published that warning last December, I have had email contact with certain persons whose correspondence was sufficiently alarming as to lead me to forward those correspondences on to a Chinese Government Officer.
That Officer's reply went something like this:
'You have warned them, you have published a warning in the press, and all the relevant employment information is available on the internet. You've done all you can. If they come here and get into trouble, then it is their own fault!'
As a foreign person who wishes to teach in China, you cannot be blamed for falling prey to people and companies who are not authorized to hire foreign teachers, but 'you will be'. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. So what can you do? You can pay attention to the procedures as laid out in Chinese Employment Laws.
Number 1. You cannot come to China on a Tourist Visa and then switch to a work Visa.
When a company advises you that they can help you do this - you are being manipulated by people who care nothing for Chinese Law and nothing for you.
You cannot apply for the temporary work visa in your country unless you produce to the local Chinese Embassy, the Chinese Government issued documents, and when you do arrive in China, your work visa will be upgraded to a yearly visa.
Number 2. Your Work Visa in China allows you only to work in the city 'for which it was issued'.
You cannot work in Shanghai on a Work visa issued for Beijing or any other place. Schools that tell you that they will 'switch you over' to the local Visa after you get to their 'other branch school', are lying.
Number 3. You must be an officially registered Alien Resident of the City in which you work.
If you are working for a private school or agency, they are required to register you as an 'alien resident' in that city. They have to pay a fee, are required to provide all of your documentation, and the police have to check your accommodations.
(At present, Public Schools providing accommodations can I think do this without your personal involvement. I guess I will know for sure when I switch back to a public school in September.)
Number 4. The school must give you an official copy of your contract and your 'Experts Certificate'.
The first three points are the basics. If your school tries to arrange anything different to these, then you are working illegally. Point four has more to do with the 'less than upright character' of the school in its dealings with its teachers.
It matters not a wit what your prospective employer says or what documentation or plaques that they show you. If they do not provide you with the 'Work Visa' documentation to present to your local Chinese Embassy, then they are shonky (Crooked/Underhanded/Untrustworthy).
If you follow the right procedures up to the point of actually teaching, and then they send you off to a different city to work, then they are shonky. If they correctly follow the first two procedures but don't get your foreign experts certificate or get you registered as a 'resident alien', then they are probably just stupid or lazy but you are the fool who will pay the price when the authorities come checking your legal status.
If they do get them and withhold your 'foreign expert’s certificate' then in all probability they are not good people to work for and they are holding onto these documents so that you can't run away.
Play by the rules! It is the only protection you have from users an abusers who could care less what happens to you because of their deliberate actions.
Being Chinese has nothing to do with being a morally upright person. This country is full of people who are one but not the other. And remember!
When the politically correct idiots start preaching at you for telling the truth about your life in China, then very discourteously tell them that in China, it is 'YOU' who is the foreigner - the one with a different ethnicity - the different language - the different religion - the different skin color and who is completely misunderstood by the dominant majority. It is 'You' who is the 'victim'.
(Then listen to their B.S. arrogance as they try and tell you in ever so politically correct language that you are the superior educated white western being and so therefore should behave better than the inferior majority - or else you will hear them tell you that if you don't like it in China you should just go home! Hahahaha! Sometimes I just crack myself up. I am so funny! - even if I am the only one who thinks so!)
Remember: Political Correctness means obeying the laws of the totalitarian government. If you don't obey them, then you will most likely get yourself into trouble.
Don't let the shonky dealers con you! If your prospective employer doesn't want to obey the laws of China, then remove yourself from his employ!
Full Length Warning and Story about the real dangers in China.
Henry English School Looking for Teachers
R.P. BenDedek
Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com
R.P. BenDedek is the pseudonym of an Australian who has been teaching in China since 2003. In addition to contributing to Magic City Morning Star News as a columnist, he is also currently assisting the Editor of this Newspaper.
Writers Journal KingsCalendar
Additionally, BenDedek is the author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' at www.kingscalendar.com
