It seems that just about everyone here is missing the point. As of 2014, the criteria for being an English teacher in China was updated. One of them: You MUST be a native speaker of English. It is ILLEGAL otherwise.

Yes you must be an English native speaker in order to teach here now. Of course like most things in China, it is not always enforced and there are many unscrupulous recruiters/employers willing to cut corners and hire a non-native speaker (almost always for less than they would pay a native speaker of English).
(As an aside, it always makes me laugh when I read non-native speakers claiming to make as high or higher salaries as native English speakers. If employers have to pay the same salary...why would they not just simply hire a native English speaker to begin with?

Employers hire a non-speaker for one reason and one reason only. They are cheaper. Sure there may be exceptions to the rule...but not many.

And anyway it is now illegal to work as a teacher in China if you are not from a country that has English as its native language so this discussion is moot.

Also if I were a director I would be very wary about hiring ANYONE who had so badly messed up his or her life that their best option was teaching illegally in a foreign country.