Another Chinese Driver Without a License—I Saw the News and Thought, “This Is Hopeless”

I have just seen another news story that left me speechless.

A Chinese man received a prison sentence after repeatedly driving without a license while his previous sentence was suspended.

He had previously been convicted of hitting four elementary-school children walking home while driving drunk, then fleeing the scene.

Hitting four children and driving away would already be an extremely serious incident. Fortunately, they survived.

The court gave him a suspended sentence, and his driver’s license was revoked.

And yet, he drove again.

Not just once, but repeatedly.

Come on.

He Says He “Did Not Know Japanese Law”

His explanation in court was even more astonishing.

“I did not know Japanese law.”

“I thought it would be fine because I was driving inside the housing complex.”

Seriously?

How can someone who once held a Japanese driver’s license claim not to have known Japan’s traffic laws?

Moreover, he had already gone to court for drunk driving and a hit-and-run, and his license had been revoked.

An ordinary person would understand at that point that they were no longer allowed to drive.

If he still did not understand, what possible explanation would have made it clear?

Should someone have handed him a note saying, “A person whose license has been revoked must not drive,” written in hiragana, Japan’s simplest phonetic script?

This Is the Kind of News That Causes the Most Trouble

What I felt when I saw the story was less anger than the exhausted thought, “Not again.”

I have written on this blog before that it is wrong to judge someone simply because they are Chinese.

I myself have experienced kindness from Chinese people.

We should look at individuals rather than grouping everyone together by nationality.

I still believe that.

Then a story like this appears.

Of all people, someone who hit children while driving drunk then drove without a license again while his previous sentence was suspended.

And his explanation was, “I did not know Japanese law.”

Whenever an incident like this is reported, it damages the image of Chinese people as a whole.

It must be frustrating for Chinese people who live responsibly in Japan as well.

Of course, it is wrong to turn one person’s crime into a problem involving all Chinese people.

But even though I understand that rationally, stories like this still make part of me think, “Another Chinese person.”

Human emotions do not always follow reason.

At Least Come Up with a Better Excuse

Even so, “I did not know the law” is an extraordinary excuse.

He had already been convicted, had his license revoked, and continued driving anyway.

At that point, the issue seems less like a lack of legal knowledge and more like a lack of any intention to obey the law.

Every time I see a story like this, I have to remind myself not to judge people by nationality.

Then, almost as if mocking that effort, another similar story appears.

I feel sorry for Chinese people who live responsibly, but I am becoming tired too.

Just when I am trying to throw away my prejudice, a story like this makes me feel as though I might pick it up again.

This is hopeless.