OK, you have a point. But let us carry it a little farther. If a mere Oral English teacher should earn a fair wage, compared to their Chinese counterparts of half their salary- how many would actually come? Would you come to China for 2,500?
The point of my text is not so say that proper Chinese teachers should not earn more, some should. Also I am not trying to say that they don't work harder than us, they do.
My whole point is that they earn more now than before, many equal to a foreign teacher's salary. Some teachers at my school earn way more than I do, and I do not begrudge them for it.
Some teachers here resent me, and I can see them burning a hole through my shirt. But foreign teachers are not imposed on schools. The schools advertise for them and get their visas to come. Since the teachers can't say anything to the principals and vice-principals some take out on us. Think of it as a husband who marries a second woman and the first wife can't impose her will on the husband, so she takes it out on the second wife. The second wife can't cook, clean, or have male babies, but the husband likes to show her off to her friends because she looks good. Anyway the boss in China is a like a demigod, they will do whatever they want anyway.
Teachers at schools fail to think about that I am here alone, I have no materials to work with, I am at the mercy of my employer, I am here only one year contracts, and I have to deal with an alien language and culture. That has to be worth something, I think a little bit more than 2,500 yuan a month. But in China, like I have never seen it anywhere else, it is money the rules people's thinking. "He earns more than me, it is unfair, that teacher is an abuser" are what some here think.
If people want to hire mere English teaching assistants, I can recommend a few countries whose nationals will work for 2,500 a month.