Clyde, the problem with the argument is that in the end you cannot change the opinions of the people who argue against you.

This is not a problem with an argument. If Galileo argues till he's blue in the face that the Earth revolves around the sun, and nobody believes him, that doesn't mean there's a flaw in his argument. Eventually intelligent people believed him.

Next you gave examples of Chinese corruption and misuse of girls. This doesn't give foreigners license to do the same. Have you seen that video of the stupid foreign guy who tried to rape a Chinese girl in the street? They aren't going to be as tolerant of a foreigner doing this. He got the shit beat of him. Do you think it's OK for foreign men in China to beat their wives? That's quite common in China and the police overlook it if it doesn't happen in public. If Chinese men can beat their wives and children in China, does that make it OK for a Western man to do it? No! We know better.

As much as I may not like the age discepancy, the whole argument about dating students is simply not even taken as a priority in ANY way whatsoever because the folks who hold even a little bit of power in china actively benefit.

This claim goes against all the evidence. As I've said elsewhere, I know of teachers who have been fired form their jobs in China for having sex with students. You must have heard stories as well. If someone is going to fire a teacher for it, they MUST care about it. And even if Chinese authorities didn't care, which they do if a foreigner is involved, would that make it OK? Or would it be entirely racist for a man to do something with Chinese students that he'd never attempt with Western students?

You may not like to hear this but occasionally there will be younger women across all walks of life in china who are raised to believe that using their bodies for social leverage isn't a bad thing, it's necessary.

This is not news. This is especially true in the developing world, and also the reason there are so many girls who actually help support their families through prostitution in countries like Thailand. Just because I have some integrity, and give a shit about people, doesn't mean I am in any way naive. The opposite is true. I realize that damaging others for one's own short-term thrill is ultimately self-defeating, as well as it causes a rippling effect of negative consequences in the world.

Any of these chinese who reads your posts probably would not care to think too much of your opinion, they would just laugh it off.

After teaching for years in China I have never found Chinese people to be uninterested in my opinions or to laugh at them. I know of many students who would be disgusted with the posts of the sexpat posse. You, my friend, are now falling well into the trap of starting to blame the victim. The girls may actually be trying to use their bodies to get social leverage with the middle-aged foreign teacher. You should be careful about taking that tactic. First ask yourself if you think that is what is going on in the West in similar cases? Let me suggest a sort of litmus test you can give to your arguments. Sorry for sensationalism, but, let's call it the "pedophilia litmus test." If the argument you are giving could be used to justify pedophilia, than can we agree that it is a bogus argument?

Assuming you agree, you will see that both your arguments that the Chinese do it more, and that some girls may want to use their body for social leveraging, could be used to justify pedophilia, and are thus bogus.

As for the local chinese most of them would think they already know where the issue of good/bad lay, and they don't need to hear the opinions of an expat.

Again, Chinese people were always interested in my opinions. This isn't just some rhetorical question of what is good or bad. We are talking about people's actions in the real world, and them committing what are crimes of "sexual assault" in parts of the West.

Now, since you keep speaking for the Chinese, speak for them on this issue.

How do you think the average Chinese parents would feel about their 21 year old university student having sex with her 44 year old foreign Oral English teacher? I don't actually need you to answer that, do I? They would probably want to kill the guy. Actually, I know a couple where the man is in his 50s, and the Chinese woman may be 30, and her family is dead set against the foreign guy. They've had huge problems because of her family. I think you would agree that both the family, the administration at the university, and the other teachers and students would be very disturbed if a teacher has sex with his students. The leaders might turn a blind eye if they can't find a replacement teacher, but they'd be pissed.

We cannot change people or how they think, soemtimes when you look a little deeper you realize that they very folks whom you feel a responsiblity for defending are the ones who don't care at all about standing up to the injustices in their own society.

I think this last argument failed the "pedophilia" litmus test. If children sold into prostitution aren't up in arms about it, than neither should we be??

You are not in China anyway, why care about what people (foreign or local) think? Let their own actions determine their fates.

I am on this planet, and I am in the ESL industry, and I am sullied myself automatically, as a man, by the stereotype of foreign men frequently having sex with their students. I also didn't cease to care about students after teaching them for so many years. Just because I escape a fire, doesn't mean I shouldn't care about the others still in the burning house.

You have made a lot of arguments to blame the victim in your post. Just as a rhetorical exercise, why not try to write one where you blame the perpetrator?

Clyde, the problem with the argument is that in the end you cannot change the opinions of the people who argue against you. To keep things simple I will use 1 reason for this: The Chinese themselves haven't applied these standards to their own society, and they actively perpetrate immoral behavior everywhere in their own country. At the most recent place where I had worked in China I had heard a case of a gym teachers who molested underage students at one of the primary public schools in the same city. Going after underage students however is old news as going back 4 years ago there was a more famous case that involved government officials, teachers, and other people of social status who participated in a prostitution ring involving middle school age students, specifically virgins which are sought after in more than one of these sick circles of influence. Even on the Chinese discussion forums I have seen written stories about high up military officials who went after underage non-sexually active girls. There has also been cases of corrupt behavior where a government official on a lower rung will give his wife or mistress for a short time to one of his superiors to get more leverage at his job, and even this is old news.

As much as I may not like the age discepancy, the whole argument about dating students is simply not even taken as a priority in ANY way whatsoever because the folks who hold even a little bit of power in china actively benefit. You may not like to hear this but occasionally there will be younger women across all walks of life in china who are raised to believe that using their bodies for social leverage isn't a bad thing, it's necessary. Any of these chinese who reads your posts probably would not care to think too much of your opinion, they would just laugh it off. As for the local chinese most of them would think they already know where the issue of good/bad lay, and they don't need to hear the opinions of an expat.

We cannot change people or how they think, soemtimes when you look a little deeper you realize that they very folks whom you feel a responsiblity for defending are the ones who don't care at all about standing up to the injustices in their own society. You are not in China anyway, why care about what people (foreign or local) think? Let their own actions determine their fates.