Relistically, I would be entirely happy to work with a competent non-native who had mastery of the language. One of the best English teachers I've ever worked with was a bilingual European girl (actually, she was probably multi-lingual, but whatever...) whose English was flawless.

BUT!!! There's an awful lot of people who THINK they have mastered the English language when they actually haven't, and mistakes creep into their speech, while they're congratulating themselves on being awesomely skilled at our language. A few phonemes stubbornly elude them here, there's a structural lapse there, and they're not even aware of it.

The best example I've seen was a guy who came to my training centre, claiming to be Canadian. If the man had ever been anywhere near Canada in my life I'd faint with shock; he couldn't string a sentence together in conversation, although his written CV was obviously good enough to pass muster with the Chinese admins... 

MissA, you mentioned non native speaker and mastery of the language in the same sentence, you must be joking right

I work in English School ， because  native speakers' pronunciation is good.And another reason is that students will think native speaker will know his mother tongue very well.Just like if you want to learn Chinese,you will find a Chinese not find a Japanese.

They are usually idiots. They told me that I am to brown - I am latino and later they told me that because of this I could not be from a English speaking country.

Most schools who hire the foreigner from abroad have no actual awareness of the teacher's ability, how can they judge?

Just because somebody has a TEFL and some experience, does it still mean their a good teacher?

so then think about the private school, who's existence depends on the customers. Are the potential students (and parents of) going to want to send their kid to be taught by the idealistic white face or somebody from another country who's first language is not English. It's business.

As for public schools, I guess it boils down to reputation. 

Anyway, I would rather learn Chinese from a Chinese person. Does that make me a bad person? I haven't even seen a banner outside any Chinese language school and I'd still rather this...

In fairness however I still believe it's a whole lot easier for a non-native speaker to find an English teaching job in China than other countries, e.g. Japan or Indonesia where they have more strict immigration policies.

Because "native speakers" also learn from "native speakers."  The kids and parents learning English think they can absorb their language skills, while the schools believe immersion can work as well in China with Chinese as it does in native countries with immigrants.  

Subhash, I think you are taking me out of context. I don't think non natives master a language unless they have been imbedded into the culture and usually would require a significant amount of time in a country of the language you are learning or mastering. The fact is, Native Tongues are rarely mastered even by those who are from said country therefore mixing non native and mastery of a language would be nearly impossible unless you are a linguist 

Thanks for the pedestal, my ego points just sky rocketed. Sun, I do believe that a good non native English speaker has just as much right to teach ESL or Subjects in ESL as a native speaker, if they have a good command of the language then the quality of the teacher by far is more important than a native with bad teaching quality. And I am no way biased, "except toward some Chinese women," or racist and have met ESL teachers from India, Russia, and Africa that had a really good command of the English language, most of these countries begin to learn English from a really young age and have made fine expats in China, Japan, and South Korea. Africans from Africa especially, they seem to be masters at learning languages quickly, how I envy them. So Sun, if I offended you, I didn't mean to, sorry

I'm a native english speaker and I've met a number of so called native english teachers whom I can't understand.  These people should have more respect for students and find a different job, or leave China all together.   I've been asked many times if I wanted a teaching job, I can't teach, but I can speak the language fairly well.   Have been doing so for about 60 years.  I think that I have enough respect for chinese students to leave the teaching to the professionals.   I'm very happy to chat and give advice. I'm also very happy to say that I make mistakes ALL the time and if there's anybody out there who says they don't, then I will say you are mistaken.

cmon people from india africa and other countries have not mastered the language period their is so much slang their are so many phrases that do not have the same meaning as the dictionary says so if you say they have mastered the language you are incorrect 

Yes it is so shit in China, they just want the looks.
I am a Chinese born Australian, but because u don't have blond hair or blue eyes, I am not 'acceptable' because the parents will complain as to whyyy a foreigner isn't teaching their child.
Chinese people are so ignorant. I would rather hire someone who isn't even a English native than me only because they have the physical appearance.
For the last 18 months I have been discriminated again by Chinese people because of how I look. And sadly because of my background I look like them. I can't believe how acceptable it is to discriminate against people for appearance/race and gender. Arghhh

That problem is just the tip of the iceberg here. The education system in this country has much larger problems doesn't it?

its just because chinese think only people from usa uk canaada could speak english

Because even someone with an “I can wash my own hands certificate from McDonald s” is better qualified than someone who spends four years in the university of chicken vindaloo…

Do u need all this native stuffs and slangs to teach ( A for Apple,  B for  banana , C for  Cat etc)? Stop talking of native speakers as being best qualified.

there many countries in the world where the education system is purely english from kindergarten to what so ever, do guys think they ain't qualify to teach ?