内外有别

[Don_Horhe]

This is given as "to keep information from foreigners/outsiders" both in Wenlin and Nciku and the bilingual version of the 现代汉语词典 gives it as "distinguish what's for domestic information and what's for publicity".

I'm doing some HSK exercises, and one of the sentences is 咱在外国人面前说话得注意点儿，毕竟是内外有别嘛。

My question is, in the above sentence does the phrase have it's original, maybe slightly xenophobic and political, meaning, or it just means something along the lines of "we should take care no to be misunderstood(because of different customs and traditions)"?

[HashiriKata]

This is given as "to keep information from foreigners/outsiders" both in Wenlin and Nciku

The definition is clearly originated from the same source and this may serve to mislead learners into thinking in some specific direction.

内外有别 is simply a piece of common sense on dealing with the inside and outside, us and them, which can of course be applied to any area and not just about politics or between countries.

[wushijiao]

I could be wrong, but I don't think it carries xenophobic connotations, and it isn't necessarily political.

[Don_Horhe]

I could be even more wrong, this is the first time I come across this expression.

[skylee]

besides 內外有別, there are also 男女有別, 親疏有別.