Stay Away from PRC at All Costs - Hate on the Rise

[MarcosZeitola]

That is not allowed. I broke an unwritten rule.

So what's next, what country will you be going to now that you crossed China off your list?

[Cornfed]

I don't know what the truth is, but the few months I spent in China the only "hate" I experienced what some students throwing chalk at me from the top of a tall building in the early morning where they knew I couldn't see them. I was never able to catch them, though I did try. As to being followed everywhere and constantly monitored, I wish. Several times I would go out of the school gates (the school was like a walled village), making sure I was seen by the guards. Then when I would return, there would have been a changing of the guard, so we would have a ridiculous mutually unintelligible argument about whether I would be allowed back in or not until someone who could speak English happened by.

[Yohan]

So what's next, what country will you be going to now that you crossed China off your list?

He said somewhere, he is now in Cambodia. So far I did not read any complaints from him about this country.

Looking forward to read his travel report...

[MarcosZeitola]

He said somewhere, he is now in Cambodia. So far I did not read any complaints from him about this country.

Looking forward to read his travel report...

Interesting...

I find that some people here dwell too much on their negative experiences, and forget too easily about their positive experiences. Had a bad experience? Okay, I get it, it sucks, it feels bad. You may want to warn others about what happened to you and advice them not to make the mistakes you did, sure. But don't dwell on it, and don't let it turn into such bitter hatred of the country that you cannot stop talking about it. Because such a negative attitude helps no one.

Sure hope he has a better time in Cambodia, then!

[droid]

na, i think it was a troll. perhaps a guy being protective and trying to prevent foreigners from hitting on his women.

[Signet]

I understand a healthy dose of skepticism when an account is coming from a single person nobody knows, but I'm curious why there was such an insanely hostile negative reaction to the guy posting. We have significantly more negative (and even assuming that the guy really was trolling, still equally useless) people posting here regularly and they don't get lynched like that.

[Yohan]

There must be a reason if a newcomer is using HA, claiming he was banned already 2 times and coming back again with different nicks opening 2 threads with similar negative remarks against China.

I do not see any insanely hostile reaction by other members. I am not a China-friendly person either, but his comments are widely exaggerated.

If you really feel like that while living in Asia and smell discrimination everywhere, better stay at home and do not travel abroad.

I have seen similar threads from other posters also against Japan, South Korea, Thailand and of course also about Philippines.

China welcomes every year millions of tourists and businessmen from all over the world - even if you are not into business, working contract or a private relationship with the Chinese, this large country is worth a few weeks or even months of sightseeing for sure.

Internet censorship, especially internationally to datalines abroad, exists in many countries in Asia, this is not something which is typically Chinese. Check out the so-called free society of Thailand. Some countries offer only limited and slow connection, for example Cambodia or Philippines especially in rural areas as their technical equipment is insufficient and outdated.

I think the country in Asia which does not censor its internet at all and offers high speed connection by optical fiber (minimum 100M) to almost every house regardless where it is located, is maybe only Japan.

[Jester]

Then when I would return, there would have been a changing of the guard, so we would have a ridiculous mutually unintelligible argument about whether I would be allowed back in or not until someone who could speak English happened by.

I wish I had video of that scene

[droid]

I think the problem is in the way some posters or alleged trolls come in with heavy absolutism and a know-it-all or "bad ass" stance.
Threads like mr blue light's and this latest poster would be more welcome if they
went like:
"Hey guys i had a bad/good experience in these areas and such... i would/wouldn'tt recommend this place, at least from what i could see"
and so on

[ladislav]

I have noticed how discussions on hatred and racism in Asia always end up with anecdotal arguments. They are pretty predictable:

Person A: You should not go to this Asian country. It's full of racists and haters. I was attacked, I get insulted all the time, my GF gets insulted, cops follow me, etc. Please don't come here.

Person B responds with these predictable logical fallacies:

Anecdotal rebuttal:

Don't listen to him! I've been in this Asian country for 20 years and it never ever happened to me ( hence it never happens to anybody). I have friends who have been in this Asian country for 30 years and they told me it has never ever happened to them, either.
(Hence, it never happens.)

Victim blaming:

It's probably because of your attitude. You are the a@@hole and the locals pick up on your bad vibes. Maybe deep inside you hate all Asians, that's why.

Deflecting the topic to the situation back in the US:

Yeah, but look at the US. Just try and walk into a Black Panther bar in Watts in Los Angeles as a white man or the KKK regional HQ meeting at a trailer park in the Ozarks as a black man. You shouldn't be complaining.

What consolation!

I personally take reports on racial hatred in Asia seriously. And you should, too. I encountered unprovoked hatred there quite often. This is no joke. Absorb all such reports and make informed decisions about whether you want to go there. If you decide to go there, ask how you can minimize encounters with such people. Which cities have less probability of such encounters?

Xenophobia and racism in Asia are pretty serious. They are usually less violent than in the West, but generally Asians are about 100 years behind when it comes to tolerance, political correctness, etc. They are, well, less socially developed. It's the truth. Their anti discrimination laws if they exist, are a joke.

America is still a work in progress, but those Asians have not even started "the work".

[Yohan]

@ladislav
You are mentioning USA vs. Asia, but USA is one country, Asia is a continent, maybe you could give more information in detail, about where and how you feel discriminated in Asia and in which country.

Person A: You should not go to this Asian country. It's full of racists and haters. I was attacked, I get insulted all the time, my GF gets insulted, cops follow me, etc. Please don't come here.

The problem is that the person complaining is withholding deliberately information when other people are trying to verify what he says. Sorry, but I do not believe any story what people are telling me without any evidence. Back it up. Attacked? Insulted? Where and when?

I personally take reports on racial hatred in Asia seriously. And you should, too. I encountered unprovoked hatred there quite often. This is no joke.

Please offer more information in detail, where, when, how did you encounter unprovoked hatred in Asia?

Victim blaming: It's probably because of your attitude.

Indeed, in many cases it is the bad attitude of the foreigner causing locals to react angrily.
Just 2 examples, Cambodia, Angkor Wat

http://www.english.rfi.fr/asia-pacific/ ... angkor-wat
http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-siste ... ple-737672

[MarcosZeitola]

Xenophobia and racism in Asia are pretty serious. They are usually less violent than in the West, but generally Asians are about 100 years behind when it comes to tolerance, political correctness, etc. They are, well, less socially developed. It's the truth.

How can one be "behind " when it comes to political correctness? Political correctness is bullshit. If anything, I'll applaud Asians for not buying into that nonsense. My Filipino family is quite politically incorrect, and I love it! There is a far greater sense of freedom when you can say what comes to mind without always having to worry about who you may or may not insult or who you may or may not be insensitive too... to be political correct in the West, to me, seems like being spastic and unnatural when discussing social issues. To the point where you cannot even be around black or asian people without weighing your every word, instead of treating them like actual people. Political correctness turns people into spastics, walking on egg shells.

[droid]

No offense ladislav but you are kind of racially paranoid, even more so than zboy1. From your other posts, you see hatred and intolerance everywhere.
Of course what persitentsexpat wrote is still very much plausible given the country's history. But to say it's hell on earth and so on is ridiculous.
And why don't you consider person A's account anecdotal as well?

[Yohan]

How can one be "behind " when it comes to political correctness?

This is an interesting question, really.

There is a far greater sense of freedom when you can say what comes to mind without always having to worry about who you may or may not insult or who you may or may not be insensitive too...

I agree and let me add, the important point is also coming from the other side. - As an European foreigner in an Asian country with a different way of life and looking totally different from the locals, you should never take anything too sensitive and should not feel to be watched and insulted all the time.

It was mentioned somewhere in this or similar thread, that words like 'gaijin' in Japan, 'farang' in Thailand are bad words, but people who know me well are often talking about me with other locals to be the 'gaijin' or 'farang' next door, they are asked while with me by other Japanese or Thai people, who is this 'gaijin' or 'farang', for example in the barber shop, motor cycle repair shop etc. while waiting and surely they do not have any bad intentions. They do not expect me to speak the local language, and they cannot speak foreign languages. They ask only other locals next to me because there are no other foreigners around living in that area. They are not accustomed to foreigners.

Not to talk about children while I am walking in the park near my home or a beach without foreigners in Thailand, children are saying often something, like 'hi, look, this is a gaijin' or a 'farang', I just laugh and ask them in my best Japanese where they can see a 'gaijin'...or say something, 'hi, I am a farang, what about taking a picture together' or something like that...

I cannot change my looks - I am a foreigner and will always look as a foreigner - and I take it easy, really I enjoy it...

[MarcosZeitola]

Not to talk about children while I am walking in the park near my home, children are saying something, like 'hi, look, this is a gaijin', I just laugh and ask them in my best Japanese where they can see a 'gaijin'...

I cannot change my looks - I am a foreigner and will always look as a foreigner - and I take it easy, I even enjoy it...

That's the best way to handle things, really.

The way I see it, to demand extreme political correctness from Asian people is hypocritical, when so many of us dislike it when foreigners in the Western world demand a similar extreme political correctness. In America, from what I hear, to be "insensitive" to people of a different color is most horrendous hate crime in the history of hate crimes, and plenty of white guys dislike such political correctness. But then when they come to Asia, they turn into the type of overly sensitive people they despise at home and demand a similar politically correct treatment? That simply makes no sense to me.