It makes me laugh whenever posters berate Chinese TAs. Last time I taught (maths) in the UK, there was a special needs teacher with me for my first year secondary school students at the comprehensive school in Tobermory. I was a supply teacher. That was some years ago. There were only 21 students in the class.
Real teachers know that a teaching assistant can make the subject teacher's job much easier! But in China, most EFL teachers aren't real teachers. And those that berate TAs haven't ever been certificated practising subject teachers back home in the west. They don't know what they're on about!

I do see a bit of a contradiction in this part of your statement. I do believe that in China, TA's certainly are not up to the standards of what a TA working in a classroom in a western country would offer. The reason some people bash "Teaching Assistants" or what I would call Pretend Teaching Assistants in China is because most of the time they do not actually bring order to the classroom and they have little skills in disciplining a student. Having worked in a Public School with 50+ kids in a classroom I can certainly see where an extra hand can come in handy, but only if they know what they are doing. Is there a real solution towards bringing good TA's into the charade of what is the Educational System in China?