fei
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Post by fei on Jul 12, 2020 14:43:29 GMT 10
Have been talking to some expat mates over the past week. Many are cautious, but reckon will stay in China for at east another year. While not so sure of a good future here anymore (this HK thing may be the straw that breaks the camel's back), we are used to the kind of restrictions that are freaking out the Hongkies (ie. Fakebook etc have been blocked on the mainland for years).
Many of the expats in my city are teachers, and have just signed lucrative one year contracts. Due to the expat exodus in January/February and ban on non-citizens entering China since late March, there is now a shortage of expat teachers. They have gone from a job shortage last year (slowdown in the economy meant private schools had to cut classes), to now being able to name their salaries. One Aussie I know has taken up a job in the nearest mega-city with full expat package (which basically means being able to save most of his salary), even though he was offered a job in Melbourne in February. I guess in his situation he will come out way ahead as long as nothing further goes wrong here.
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Post by spinifex on Jul 12, 2020 17:52:36 GMT 10
It's all fun until someone in charge flicks the psycho switch and Ethnic Cleansing becomes the thing to do.
Ask a Bosnian what its like to be the wrong ethnicity in the wrong place at the wrong time. The race to the nearest borders there was a short distance affair and yet plenty still ended up behind razor wire starving to death and in shallow pits with a sprinkling of lime. There were even Smurfs there to watch it all happen in an orderly fashion.
Or as a South swedish what happens if you be 'the wrong sort' when a dictatorial leadership exerts itself with a vengeance.
Or even ask an American born Japanese from the 1940's what happens when good times turn bad for your ethnic minority in a mighty democracy.
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fei
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Post by fei on Jul 12, 2020 18:23:04 GMT 10
It's all fun until someone in charge flicks the psycho switch and Ethnic Cleansing becomes the thing to do. Ask a Bosnian what its like to be the wrong ethnicity in the wrong place at the wrong time. The race to the nearest borders there was a short distance affair and yet plenty still ended up behind razor wire starving to death and in shallow pits with a sprinkling of lime. There were even Smurfs there to watch it all happen in an orderly fashion. Or as a South swedish what happens if you be 'the wrong sort' when a dictatorial leadership exerts itself with a vengeance. Or even ask an American born Japanese from the 1940's what happens when good times turn bad for your ethnic minority in a mighty democracy. China has turned noticeably more anti-foreign over the past year or so. Unfortunately everything I predicted months ago when we were in hard lockdown (ie. blaming foreigners for the disease and attendant xenophobia) did happen. Looks like things have let-up a bit on that side, but I'm still pretty sure some low-level conflict with a neighbour is on the books if the economy doesn't pick up soon. I think the Chinese got a shock that the Indians fought back and didn't just roll over. The Chinese media didn't report the clash until rumours started circulating online. Even then, nothing has been said about any Chinese wounded or fatalities. The official version has been a few Chinese soldiers were lightly wounded, seeing off an unprovoked Indian attack that killed a few of their soldiers. The government damped down the news pretty quickly, and there was a lot of surprise when India banned the Chinese apps last week, as most people couldn't work out what had happened to cause it.
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frostbite
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Post by frostbite on Jul 12, 2020 20:41:25 GMT 10
People have been risking their lives for treasure since time began. These ex-pats take a gamble, maybe they get a big payday, maybe they end up rotting in a cell on trumped up charges, held as political leverage against an increasingly belligerent Australian government.
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fei
Senior Member
Posts: 604
Likes: 876
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Post by fei on Jul 13, 2020 0:45:13 GMT 10
People have been risking their lives for treasure since time began. These ex-pats take a gamble, maybe they get a big payday, maybe they end up rotting in a cell on trumped up charges, held as political leverage against an increasingly belligerent Australian government. Yep, and unfortunately quite a few of them are still in their safe expat bubbles, not really paying attention to what's going on outside whatever circle of friends and events they have. I stopped posting info on expat groups' social media back in February after I was accused of being extremist by an expat teacher after telling the group to watch out because there would surely be an uptick in anti-foreign feeling due to COVID. Same people were then ing about racism a few weeks later, but no-one said anything since it hit home. Things have quietened down now, but I wonder if they learned their lesson or are still ignoring the bigger picture?
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Post by SA Hunter on Jul 13, 2020 0:47:21 GMT 10
People have been risking their lives for treasure since time began. These ex-pats take a gamble, maybe they get a big payday, maybe they end up rotting in a cell on trumped up charges, held as political leverage against an increasingly belligerent Australian government. Yep, and unfortunately quite a few of them are still in their safe expat bubbles, not really paying attention to what's going on outside whatever circle of friends and events they have. I stopped posting info on expat groups' social media back in February after I was accused of being extremist by an expat teacher after telling the group to watch out because there would surely be an uptick in anti-foreign feeling due to COVID. Same people were then @#$%ing about racism a few weeks later, but no-one said anything since it hit home. Things have quietened down now, but I wonder if they learned their lesson or are still ignoring the bigger picture? Even here, my money is on people still ignoring the big picture.
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