The focus of this research is on an international distance discussion class carried out in Chinese between university students in Japan, China and Taiwan using videoconferencing. Smiling was used as an interactional index in an analysis of the archival footage of the recordings of the discussion between native speakers (NS) of Chinese and non-native speakers (NNS). Through quantitative and qualitative analysis, it was possible to identify how the NSs and NNSs participated in the discussion. We analyzed a 70-minute video and the textual materials of a discussion class among 13 students from different countries. Findings revealed that interactions between NS and NNS students gave rise to more smiling and laughter compared to interactions between NS students. Findings also revealed that NNS students are better at creating affinity with other participants, since their laughter events could reflect differences in cultures and in human relationships though these jokes were less novel and less funny than those of NS students. Compared with more traditional class formats, the distance class is better at helping students develop their social, intercultural and problem-solving abilities. However, NS students are more likely to take the initiative in discussions due to their language ability, while the NNS students are less able to express their opinions freely. This research tells us that even though NNS students have disadvantages in terms of their linguistic resources, they make use of both verbal and non-verbal resources to interact with other speakers. Based on our analysis, suggestions for international distance foreign language teaching and research are given.