Is the above related to this; and do you feel that this questioning always occurs in China to anyone deemed different?

Sorry I didn't see this post earlier have been busy with personal things. Yes I do feel that this always occurs in China towards anyone seen as being different. It is a culmination of so much ignorance from centuries of moral corruption and spiritual nihilism. I will not write another ten page essay but I will say for any expats looking to delve deeply into what many Chinese people consider to be "culture", you have been warned. Of course, I am speaking like this because I know about this place well enough. I am sure folks who have worked in many other countries will have things to say regarding the backwards mentality of locals. A big world we live in.

I was not thinking of the students, more like the western apologists and maybe one or two romanticists who have defended some backward countries on here.

As for the Chinese, here is my take. When I was working in China, if a local Chinese sees that you can understand Mandarin fluently they will go out of their way to talk about how inconvenient and annoying a part of their lives are because they have no control. A poster who defends China on this forum would call this "grumbling". Of course, once they see that they've gotten your attention then these local Chinese will shift to the "A-Ha, you don't actually know anything about us" mode and say how it is mei ban fa or how that's just the way it is, and try to make you feel stupid for not "knowing" like they do. It's shallow, and gives me the impression that a lot of these folks are proud of their doormat life under an oppressive environment.

It's also these types of places that makes the most people who bow down unconditionally to others with more money and power but will kick to the curb folks who have less than them in terms of materials and power/influence. The concept of living a life that is free and easy compared to making more money but working hard and having no life is one that is very very difficult if not impossible for most in places like China to grasp. In the west, some of the most intelligent people I have met have little money and no "power" per say working in the government. But they provide real value in spirit and in knowledge. Unfortunately, these people would be treated the worst in China. When I was there even small store owners would try to size you up by the way you look and dress and gauge how much service they should provide. It is called "Qi Ruan Pa Ying" or "Bully the meek and be afraid of bigger bullies" as its closest translation. "Ruan" and "Ying" are literal translations of "soft" and "hard" but the Soft in this case is understood as a person who takes too many insults and is afraid of speaking out for themselves. Hard would be a person who is rough with treating others because of some conceived leverage, usually social. Another way of saying this in Mandarin is "Qi Shan Pa E" or "Bully the Virtuous and be afraid of Evil". It is a unique vice that is borne from a culture which accepts corruption across everything including that of the mind. In this case it keeps everyone from taking any action. It is also in my humble opinion the most despicable part of human nature. I do see it everywhere, even in the USA for example there will be minorities with a chip on their shoulders transfer the discriminative attitude heaped on to them to other minorities that are fewer in number. But in some places there is a lot of this going on while in other places there is much less.