@ Jaz and the Fat Man:
sorry to hear you got screwed by your agent and thanks for the good advice.
I've been on contract 4+ years and in Asia as well.
I think I have a good read on where agencies are coming from. obviously all they have on their minds is their own $$$. pilots are just the means of getting to it.
I requested a contract draft from GPS, which they actually send me. however it had Tianjin Airlines written all over it. I pointed that out and they corrected that part, however there are discrepancies all over.
I basically dissected the contract and pointed them all out, asking for confirmation/clarification and I also told them that some conditions were unacceptable and have to be rewritten/amended, if they want me to sign it at some point.
Only one example: all payments are stated after tax in China, however the contract states that
"The Contractor undertakes and accepts responsibility to discharge promptly all Income Tax, National and Social Security and all other tax regulations arising in China and any other jurisdiction in connection with his earnings hereunder and shall keep GPS fully indemnified in this respect."
another thing is the fact that the agency is physically located in Taipei, but for all business purposes they claim their legal address to be in HKG, which means the contract is bound to the laws of HKG and this is actually a mailbox company.
once you sign you might be on your own, you won't have a chance to get a hold of them and regarding the tax issue it might be possible that the HKG contract is not even recognized in mainland China as a legal and binding document, neither for WA, nor GPS. that could leave you alone at the table explaining Chinese IRS agents, why your due tax payments never made it to the proper destination .. not nice, to say the least !
we'll see how they react ...
lots of stuff to think about and consider .. thank you for your generous offer to meet on Skype !!
I'll wait for their answer and if I decide to go through with it I'll sure talk to you.
good luck to you as well !