The Briefing Room
General Category => World News => Topic started by: riverdale-74 on August 12, 2019, 11:52:40 pm
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Arrests and deportations of foreign teachers in China have soared this year, lawyers, schools and teachers say, amid a broad crackdown defined by new police tactics and Beijing’s push for a “cleanerâ€, more patriotic education system.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-education/class-dismissed-surge-in-arrests-of-foreign-teachers-in-china-idUSKCN1V2233 (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-education/class-dismissed-surge-in-arrests-of-foreign-teachers-in-china-idUSKCN1V2233)
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Interesting.
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Speaking dispassionately, China is walking an economic-social tightrope.
China wants to be a major player in the world economy. That means understanding Western business practices and having a large number of people who can speak English fluently. English is taught in Chinese schools, but in some rural parts of China, the teachers of English have never heard it spoken (I am not exaggerating). So Western teachers of business and languages are needed.
On the other hand, China does not want less regimented Western ideas coming into and changing China's authoritarian government and culture. Combining the two needs poses a problem, because Westerners interact with students and residents outside of classrooms. It might be in stores and marketplaces, or it might be in "English Corners", which are informal gatherings in cafes and such where Chinese people engage Westerners in conversations for the purpose of practicing English, and getting to know each other at a general level.