Isn't a 3rd person in the room just one more person testifying against laowei. Whip out your phone and record the session, tell the student he/she can have the recording for review purposes. 

I can see the concern. I once jokingly after a successful pay-negotiation told my boss, "Glad I didn't have to run out of the office with my pants on the ground yelling RAAAAAAPE", the boss said he was glad about that too

By the way. Sweden has a law that says farmers are not allowed to be in their stables alone with the animals. It's the same thing, and some video surveillance would also mitigate that problem.

I am not sure whether what you suggest is practical in China. On the face of it, your idea seems a sensible option. However, in the meantime, it may be worth carrying digital voice recorders during teaching sessions. Or maybe using a laptop with a webcam. You can always delete all the data after a certain date.

There is no good way, but, I believe if you put bars between you and your students would be the only way to be 100% safe, damn, what about indecent exposure? Ok, not sure, video might be the best way to go.

It is unreasonable to ask a school to incur the expense of a third party to sit in as a monitor, but a video camera is not a bad idea at all. The CFTU received 112 complaints in 2013 from teachers who were basically extorted by students and TAs who made false claims against teachers for "inappropriate behavior and/or comments".  Teachers can use their own laptop cameras to record a one-2-one class session for their own protection.  Keep in mind that 112 teachers is less than 1% of all the expat teachers working in China.

I would prefer a camera, instead of another person (especially a person who has the mindset that "All Westerners are pervs with yellow fever, come to prey on our wimminfolk). Two people lying isn't any better than one. 

No pervert opened the door for false allegations. Xenophobia and racism opened the door. Hell, Yang Rui used this stereotype, "Damn foreigners, taking our jobs and our women" in his rant, and he's not the only one to voice this.

There've been numerous cases of false allegations back in the US, where the accused was later exonerated due to DNA evidence, video evidence, or other records. I don't know how likely it is to happen in China, but considering how often we hear people fake injuries to extort money, I do consider lying for profit to be at least a possibility. 

My school now has surveillance cameras in the classrooms. I do not much care for them because the school (a college) can spy on me and tell what I am doing, and I have to be careful about not letting the students leave until the bell rings (or close, within five minutes or so). I will say that they have put me in a large lecture hall which for some reason has no cameras in it, so I am more free and liberal with my time. But I have to be careful, and I did get "busted" for cutting the kids loose too early one day. BUT, I like this school because they basically leave me the hell alone. I do not have to submit lesson plans the first week of school, and although I have a teaching partner, that guy leaves me alone and it is hard to even find him (I love that.) I worked at another college where I was forced with a "teaching assistant" ( an annoying, homely girl a good 15 years younger than me) who was required to watch one of my classes twice a month, and I had to put up with that shit for three semesters, long after it should have been assumed that I am not a pervert, a day drunk, violent or a complete idiot. I resented being "spied upon", and this goofball girl's ridiculous and unsolicited advice. This person was forced upon me, and she acted like the boss over me, which I resented. Think of North Korea ran by women and you get the picture of that shitty college. The FAO woman there was an absolute witch. I lost my job when I finally had enough of her and was screaming for her to "shut the f... up!" I hated that school with a passion, because they would be so hard on discipline, track the teachers down, make us do no bunch of extra bullshit at the last minute, awful FAO person, awful boss, idiotic scheduling.

I tutor kids in public areas.  That is my rule.  Sometimes the parents sit in the back of the room reading a newspaper or something until the lesson is done.  For me, it is not so much to protect the student but to protect me.

@Crimo: I fear that your skincolour has something to do with it. Complaints are a 'polite' way to get 1 on 1 lessons with a gratifying white face instead. If true, it sucks big time.

The school I studied Chinese at had cameras in the classes. I was always a bit bothered by them. My teacher told me though that they don't have sound on them, they're just video. So when we finished a class early or all of us couldn't be bothered, she would let us talk to each other or just mess around but we couldn't leave, because then the camera would see and she'd get into sh*t. 

Surely a camera is better because the video can't be doctored, if you don't touch a kid they can't suddenly show a video of you doing so. But if it's a thrid person then he/she could just say that you did. No? I don't know, I've never taught english, but it seems like an interesting question. 

what was the caused of this, who did what when and where.