As he had written critically about a private college, concluding that this establishment should be closed by the government, I sensed an opportunity. At the time I saw this as an avenue for dialogue about the negative aspects of recruitment, the treatment of FTs and the issue of some private schools.
All was going well until I made a comment on an article he wrote about cameras in taxis. My comments were not negative. I just queried how the data might be used. In a subsequent follow-up article I felt he was rather patronising about foreigners and quoted me out of context, reversing my views. My comment on that article was not published, nor my email answered about the right of reply to other Chinese posters who had shown xenophobia.

I remember your mentioning said journalist on the board. You thought you had come upon a Chinese journalist with an open mind, only to come up against a brick wall, figuratively speaking, when he thought things were going too far. Herd mentality, no room for individualism, is the way the society is organized here. Do your own thing and you'll be ostracized if you're a Chinese.
Anyway, a great post, which I'm sure will interest many readers.