If one of the required qualifications for a particular English teaching job in China is fluency in Mandarin and you arrive unable to speak a word of the language then the leaders should be miffed and you should get the sack.

It's not up to us as to what should or should not be a prerequisite for employment in China, should or shouldn't be just doesn't come into it. I personally do not believe that most English teaching jobs in China will ever demand any knowledge of Chinese.

I don't know what the all the brouhaha is all about, all I suggested was, if you want to try and get on with[very difficult] people [leaders] then it would be good to learn Mandarin. The next thing I know is that I get weird replies, something like "another GW has emerged from the slime again"(something like that)