Gotta find a new trope to file this under, since Evil Foreigner is specific to Professional Wrestling.
Evil Foreigner: Plenty of those. Evil Westerners and evil Japanese especially, though Hercules O'Brien (Irish-American wrestler) and Tanaka (Japanese) redeem themselves by showing a proper sense of honor on the ring. It takes a bit longer in O'Rien's case, as he initially comes of as crude Dumb Muscle, until Huo saves him from near death. At that point O'Brien says "Thank you" to Huo in Chinese and becomes a Graceful Loser.
In an age where movies made in China are constantly depicting foreigners - especially the Japanese - as utterly amoral, evil, and more than willing to dishonor someone Chinese, it's somewhat comforting to see a few foreigners - including one Japanese - act sympathetically and honorably.
Ironically, the movie is depicting a time in China's history in which many foreign industries truly were plundering the land and oppressing the people.
Gotta find a new trope to file this under, since Evil Foreigner is specific to Professional Wrestling.