Bilingual law enforcement in Shanghai wins praise

Résumé détaillé

Traffic officer Xu Yichao directs vehicles at an intersection in Shanghai on Thursday. GAO ERQIANG/CHINA DAILY . A Shanghai traffic police officer has drawn widespread praise onli…

A Shanghai traffic police officer has drawn widespread praise online after switching to fluent English to handle a minor traffic violation involving two foreign tourists.

The incident occurred around 10 pm on Nov 5, when Xu Yichao, an officer with the Jing'an district traffic police, spotted a woman riding an electric bicycle with an adult passenger. The practice violates Shanghai's non-motor vehicle regulations, which prohibit cyclists from carrying passengers over the age of 12.

After stopping the pair and discovering that they were tourists from Thailand who did not speak Chinese, Xu immediately switched to English to explain the local traffic rules and provide on-the-spot safety education.

"Once I stopped the vehicle and identified myself, they spoke a few words in English, so I immediately conducted the enforcement procedure in English," Xu recalled.

As it was a first-time offense that caused minimal harm and was promptly corrected, Xu issued a written warning in accordance with the Administrative Penalty Law and local regulations governing non-motor vehicles.

Video footage of the encounter quickly went viral on Chinese social media, with netizens praising Xu's fluent English, professionalism and courteous manner.

"I've never studied abroad. I was just interested in English from an early age, including foreign films and TV series," said Xu, a Shanghai native born in 2003. "I have a habit of imitating dialogue from TV shows to practice pronunciation and intonation."

Xu's English proficiency also reflects the training he received as a police officer. At the police academy, he took compulsory English courses, including specialized police English covering public security, criminal justice and traffic enforcement scenarios. After joining the Jing'an branch, he received further targeted training in handling cases involving foreigners.

"Our detachment holds regular training to sharpen front-line officers' bilingual enforcement skills," Xu said.

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