Illustration: Liu Rui/GT





Recently, a foreign football player who played in China's super league made a gesture that often contains discriminative and racist implications in a Western and historical context. It quickly caused strong controversy. Surprisingly, it was the foreign media that first spotted and criticized the footballer's racist behavior. Only later did the story spread on Chinese media. Some Chinese netizens were outraged after they learned the meaning of this gesture, angry that there are many foreigners like him in China who earned Chinese money, but don't appreciate and respect the country and Chinese people at all. One commented, "they get way more money than they actually deserve in China. The money comes so easily, so they take things and take Chinese people for granted without any appreciation."



I would like to share some of my views and feelings on a broader picture of the moral foundations of foreigners living in China, primarily foreigners from Western society.



I do not intend to generalize the few cases I will discuss. I have to make it clear that I had many great foreign friends when I studied and lived abroad as well as when I came back to Beijing. Most of them have spent years on studying China and learning Chinese. For me, they are not only good friends, but also family. I appreciate their help and support throughout these years.



For all the years I have lived abroad and made friends from different countries, I've learned one important thing about living in a foreign country - that is gratitude for and respect to the local community.



That is probably why I sometimes feel a bit disappointed and sad meeting some foreigners in Beijing. They behave differently compared to how they would in their home countries. My close foreign friends feel so too. And I started to ponder why? Why do some foreigners operate with lower moral standards in China?



First, foreigners in China face low and soft moral and even legal constraints compared to their home countries. Chinese society is less sensitive to racism than the West. With lower awareness on moral and legal protection, Chinese people tend to be way more tolerant to foreigners in China. When foreigners are caught for minor misconducts, in some cases, local police tend to just let them go, partly due to language barrier, partly due to the thinking that they are just foreigners. Chinese netizens also complained that some local police always make extra efforts to help foreigners get back their lost wallets, but they won't make the same amount of efforts for Chinese citizens.



Chinese people are often not aware of racist and discriminative gestures, words and cartoon figures which are rooted in Western society.



Therefore no severe consequence or punishment would be applied to any misbehavior. However, these few foreigners wouldn't dare act this way in their home countries where they would face severe legal consequences. In the US, any racist behavior could lead to getting fired, expelled from the team or university and being deeply contemned by the public.



Second, some of us have illusions on foreign technology, expertise, companies and people. Absolutely, many of them are good. But simply being foreign doesn't make it good. Some Chinese still blindly believe in "white supremacy." From a psychological perspective, the mentality of always "looking up the West" might partly come from our centuries of colonial humiliations, and the poverty and backwardness China endured as the West arose from industrialization and modernization.



I remember reading an article in The Guardian, "Why are white people expats when the rest of us are immigrants?" that was thought provoking. It is the time to move on and treat each other equally. Not looking up, not looking down.



Again, we do not want to generalize based on a few cases. Of course all countries and cities are becoming more international and all are welcomed, but in some cases, foreigners are overestimated, overvalued and overpaid in the Chinese market. Their capability, talent, added value and integrity are not compatible with their salary. Foreign people often receive too much attention in China, taking photos, VIP privileges and free drinks in the clubs. The distorted pricing, overwhelming attention and ungrounded privileges also make some foreigners have inflated egos. When people get used to privileges and easy money they often show less appreciation and respect.



The foreign labor market is not well-regulated and priced in China. This is also not good for the foreign talents who have capacity and dedication. It reduces their value in the long run. One example is the English teacher market. A large amount of English teachers in China are not native speakers, some even barely speak English and have strong accents. They only got hired because they look white and foreign.



If we don't point it out and think about it, issues like this will gradually evolve into confrontation and isolation between different cultural groups. Eventually, it will jeopardize the interests of all of us, Chinese and foreign. In the end, we are all residents of the city. In many ways, we share the same rights and responsibilities.



Likewise, when Chinese travel abroad we also need to appreciate and respect the local community and cultures. Only then will we truly and fully enjoy our time and make awesome friends around the world.



The author is a former consultant at the United Nations Headquarter in New York. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn Follow us on Twitter @GTopinion