A recent piece of news has once again raised heated online discussions about a long-debated topic: do locals treat foreigners better than their fellow Chinese? According to the news, a 21-year-old international student from Zimbabwe gave birth to a baby in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. With no friends or family members in Yangzhou, her Chinese doctors contacted the local foreign affairs bureau. Word got around to the deputy mayor of Yangzhou, who decided to pay the new mother a visit and also offer her some maternity products. However, this kind gesture was criticized by some netizens.

Whether or not foreigners in China receive special treatment has been a long-debated topic. Photos: CFP

Most of the comments left online said that no Chinese person would ever receive such kind treatment from a public servant and that the deputy mayor was only concerned about boosting his own image among foreigners.



Now that Chinese netizens have had their say, what do China's expats themselves think about the news? Are they generally treated better by the Chinese than Chinese are? If so, what do they think causes this preferential treatment?



The Global Times recently interviewed some foreigners in Shanghai for their take.



British national Martine Jones said that he does not think that the treatment this African woman received was particularly normal, but considering her unusual circumstances, it is nonetheless understandable that the local government offered her extra care and assistance.



Similar sentiments were echoed by Swiss national Maria Sandqvist. "It wouldn't have happened in my country," she said, adding that a Chinese woman giving birth also would not have received such special treatment.



American Damon Boylan feels that, because foreigners in China usually don't have any health insurance and medical care, unlike the Chinese, it was an especially hard predicament for a pregnant Zimbabwean woman to be in.



Madhura Deshpande from India said it was gratifying to see such a positive story about an expat in China.



"Since she was all alone and about to give birth, so she should be given special treatment," Deshpande said. "Though she is a foreigner, she is also a person; all humans should be treated like that."



Many of the foreigners interviewed agreed that they don't feel that Chinese people treat them any differently from locals.



"I think they treat me the same. No better no worse," Sandqvist said.



Cyrill Apeb from England said Chinese people treat him either very specially, or not at all special, with no middle ground.



Jones agreed, except for taxi drivers. "Some are impatient, and they don't speak English, so they're all just like 'go away, go away.'"



Other interviewees admitted that, on occasion, they or foreigners they know have received better treatment and extra attention from the Chinese.



Half-Chinese student Maya Zhou said that, during her elementary and middle school years in Shanghai's international school system, she noticed that some Chinese teachers would often treat white students better than Asian or mixed students.



Zhou added that when she and her Western friends go to the Bund, many locals try to take their photo but not hers, which she feels is a type of special attention.



Sandqvist said that, while traveling around China, she has noticed that at many tourist attractions she tends to receive better service than Chinese visitors, which she attributes to "looking wealthier."



Deshpande said that she noticed that many Chinese educational institutions tend to offer more and better scholarships to overseas students than to local Chinese students.



"I am studying Chinese opera at Shanghai Theatre Academy; our school provides scholarships, but perhaps only to international students," Deshpande said. "None of my Chinese classmates received a scholarship."



Deshpande added that vendors in China usually do not bargain fairly with foreigners and might even charge foreigners more money than they would a local customer.



All interviewees pointed out that it is generally wrong to treat foreigners and locals differently.



"People are people, just treat people kindly. Doesn't matter their skin color, hair color or eye color," Jones said.



Likewise, Deshpande stated that "humans are human, so we should treat everybody equal. There is no difference between foreigners and locals. We should treat everybody on an equal basis."



For those that treat foreigners better than their fellow Chinese, Zhou said that "these people need to ask themselves why they give foreigners special treatment."

Maria Sandqvist

Madhura Deshpande





Martine Jones





Cyrill Apeb





Damon Boylan





Maya Zhou Photos: Global Times































