The micro-blog of actress Dong Jie, in which she complains that a kindergarten in Beijing refused to admit her son because of his Chinese nationality has stirred heated public discussions online. When individual rights are linked to a person's nationality it becomes difficult for people to view the problem in a detached way, says an article in Qianjiang Evening News. Excerpts:
We cannot, and should not, judge the case of the admission of Dong's son on the basis of two micro-blogs posted by the actress and her husband. Instead, we should find out whether some international schools and kindergartens demand special qualification and/or requirements to admit children.
Some Chinese people, for example actors who have obtained citizenship of other countries, still prefer to live and work in China. This has increased the demand for education of "foreigners' children". The emergence of "bilingual kindergartens" can be, to a large extent, attributed to them.
But it is still questionable whether "international schools" or "bilingual kindergartens" have the right to refuse admission to Chinese children. At present, students of normal schools who enjoy financial subsidies have to work in public schools for a couple of years after passing out of school. If they decide to teach in schools for foreign children instead, they have to return to teaching Chinese students for the stipulated period later or pay back the amount of subsidy they have enjoyed.
This arrangement is justified because a person cannot and should not use taxpayers' money if he/she does not pay back society in kind. This is exactly what foreigners do when they offer scholarship to Chinese students. China needs to devise a similar law to safeguard the legitimate rights of its citizens.
It is common today for people with some power or money to try and occupy social resources in education and other fields. No wonder, common people feel their living space squeezed while a handful of people are free to avail of the public resources.
That's why so many people have supported Dong.
(China Daily 12/23/2011 page9)
