Ewan
That depends on what your definition of mercenary is.
a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army.
hired professional soldier who fights for any state or nation without regard to political interests or issues
Many definitions exist.
They haven’t been hired to fight. They’ve been hired to teach. And I very much doubt they are wearing the uniform of the Chinese military. Are they mercenaries?
Was I a mercenary when I was on Loan Service in Oman? Was I a mercenary when I was in Canada? What if I had been sent on Ops in either of those jobs? Would that have changed things?
My point is don’t be so quick to judge. And calling people mercenaries (rightly or wrongly) as a form of insult does not address the root cause of the problem.
BV