I have to agree. Your input on your experience with your pension funds and how Chinese banks are dealing with it reflect an important aspect of life for foreign teachers in China as it may also happen to other people.

Agreed.

A hypothetical situation:

A young FT is whisked away to the PSB HQ after having been caught 'teaching' kids illegally at a private Chinese kindergarten. His/her passport will be taken from him/her. He/she will have to sign and fingerprint a form admitting guilt and apologizing for having broken China's visa laws. If he/she refuses to sign, it'll be immediate incarceration.

The PSB will issue a kind of bill to be settled by the FT within 10 days, and it must be settled at a specified branch, the money to be paid into the PSB bank account at said branch by a specified date, probably 7 days from the date of apprehension of the errant FT. The bill will be made up of the fine and the cost of a 10-day stay visa, the start date of the visa will be the date of apprehension.

So, let's presume the FT has insufficient funds to pay the bill and a one-way air ticket to his/her homeland. He/she has to act fast, and contacts his/her parents in the west urging them to send a specified amount of western currency to China fast. (Note, RMB can't be sent!) But the western bank uses the FT's abbreviated name, which doesn't match his/her Chinese bank account name, which is necessarily the same as his/her name in his/her passport. So the Chinese bank refuses to enact the transfer.

Result, detention!

Note: His/her parents should have highlighted the importance to the transferring bank of using the young FT's full name at the time the telegraphic transfer was arranged. But it's likely the parents wouldn't have known about this potential banana skin unless their son/daughter had known it and told them! If the young BOGUS FT had read this on ESLTB, he/she would have been aware of it!

I can't think what pearls of wisdom Willie has posted. Maybe not even one!