Panda, what you say is untrue. While most local pilots in China will show a minimum of respect, I can tell you some are not respectful, and even less helpful. Some might say it's a cultural thing, but the reality is that CRM concept is still an abstract idea for many, and some local FO's have a hard time hiding their discontent when flying with foreigners.
I am on my 4th year flying in China, 6th year in Asia, and 17 years away from my native country. Salaries are sometimes equal in other countries or companies, but even so, the local pilots will often be resentful of the expats being here, for one reason or another. (Think, if the expats weren't here, there would be more jobs for the locals, as an example). This is just very pronounced in China I feel, comoared to other places.
As you may know in China, expat pilots (and other professions) are granted an "Expert Certificate". This is a government issued document to validate the expat applicant has skills and/or knowledge that is lacking within local resources.
From a personal point of view, whatever the salary gap between expats and locals, I see my salary as an expat nothing short of very well deserved, especially so in China, for the many reasons already mentioned by other posters. On top of this, most expats will work on fixed term contracts like 2, 3, or 5 years. There is no garantee the airline will renew a contract, and nobody else but me is looking after my retirement plans.
I do agree though that you can find idiots and disrespectful individuals in Europe, as well as anywhere else. The difference may lay in the fact that Western crew are used to work with a whole mix of nationalities and cultural backgrounds, be in the Americas or Europe, while this is relatively new in China. 10 to 12 years ago, expat pilots in China must have been a rarity.