Time for Mr Yang to face some home truths?

For me the sad part of this whole unhappy episode is that not only has it undone so much of the good that the Beijing Olympics and years of quiet diplomacy has achieved, but it has also given ammunition to a whole load of people who frankly know little about what they are talking about – though this of course doesn't stop them adding fuel to the fire.

Comments such as "Western media and Internet forums are full of racist China-bashing comments, based on lies and half-truths, with the object of spreading hatred towards China...The reactions to Yang Rui's comments only go to show that Westerners cannot hack it when they get a taste of their own medicine." "Westerners think that they can bum around in China or in Asia, get money teaching English, and a girlfriend for fun, and then go home when they are done. Westerners better get over it and learn to behave themselves, or be booted out," can now be found right across the blogosphere …

… as can the other side of the spectrum, such as "As for Yang Rui, he is boring, pompous and a legend in his own mind. And, he most certainly should be fired. If he is CCTV's liaison with expats in this country he is definitely a poor example." "The person who should really shut up is this idiot." "At the minimum, we now know his true feelings about people who disagree with the party line, as if it wasn't obvious enough through his broadcasts." "Want to ask, can you speak Chinese? How can someone so incoherent become a TV host..."

Poor Yang Rui. I'm almost beginning to feel sorry for the guy! He too is obviously feeling sorry for himself and has threatened to sue one American resident of Beijing who accused him of being xenophobic. His criticism was a "libel against a sincere and conscientious host who has been devoted to international cultural exchange for 13 years," Mr Yang reportedly told a Chinese newspaper.

Heavens! 13 years? And he still hasn't learned when to keep his micro blog mouth shut?

But seriously, he does have a point. In fairness there are a lot of foreigners working in China and a large amount of them are very brash, very rude and very arrogant. Not just that, but Mr Yang was stressing the problems of illegal immigrants in China without mentioning the contributions other foreigners have made to the country. In my limited experience of Chinese people, picked up from just a year living in Beijing, the public generally holds a kind and friendly view toward foreigners. I personally couldn't ask for a warmer reception.

But the fact is that Mr Yang has embarrassed his employer, and I wonder how many foreign experts will be so ready to appear on his show again - certainly in the near future. In England, we have an expression "to take gardening leave". I think the time has come for Mr Yang to look it up. if he is not familiar with the term, and take a bit of it himself.

* Brian Salter was a Radio and TV anchor working for the BBC in London and for KSA2 TV in Riyadh

*Gardening leave describes the practice whereby an employee is sent home while subject to disciplinary proceedings, when they are between projects, or when, as a result of publicity, their presence at work is considered counter-productive.

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