I've been here for nearly five years, and I didn't come here out of desperation. Nor, though I have a strong to desire to see Hu's call for more adherence to the rule of law be taken more seriously and for accountability to become the norm rather than the exception, do I feel as though I've had to submit to "Oriental Despotism." Generally, I've been treated fairly and honorably over these last years and haven't regretted being here except for rare moments of being overcome by nostalgia. I've seen my fair share of dishonorable and even despicable acts all over the world.

As for that canned phrase "Oriental Despotism" I would place it in the same light as the "Yellow menace" touted many decades ago. Simply a bit of rhetoric coined by Westerners out of fear of losing their nearly imperialistic control of the world. Moreover, it is a phrase that has fallen out of use in contemporary society, so I'm surprised that you would use it at all. I suspect that you want to stir the pot with such rhetoric, but suffice it to say that you're raising the issue that in China they are overtly demonstrative in their need to show an unwillingness to bend to Western traditions. However, I don't see that the rule of law is singularly a Western concept; therefore, I'm somewhat more optimistic than you in terms of how long it will take this society to embrace the concept. Indeed, the poorest people, the majority, already cry for it. It is those that benefit the most by avoiding the rule of law, the corrupt officials of course, who do their best to keep it out of the mainstream.

Finally, what seems overly obvious is that you and a few others in this forum have aligned yourselves with the old saying of "once bitten, twice shy," but you carry it even further. Revenge seems to be your creed. Advising Fts against coming here is your mantra. You wake up in the morning with it and go to bed with it - I know this because I've been checking out the archives here. Haven't you tired of it yet? Are you hoping to get a medal or something? I would advise finding something more positive to spend your time on. Are you a serious and committed teacher? How about some actual advise that would be useful to a newbie preparing for his/her first year of teaching. Something along those lines. Maybe some new approach or methodology you've developed. Something interesting! Maybe a strategy you've developed for increasing the motivation of bored or disinterested students. Get my drift? Enough potatoes, more meat................