Last September, a Japanese boy was murdered in Shenzhen. The 45-year-old perpetrator, Zhong Changchun, was recently executed.
According to reports from the Japanese Kyodo News Agency and the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), on April 21 this year, the Japanese Embassy in Beijing received notification from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the perpetrator, Zhong Changchun, had been executed. However, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not specify the exact date of the execution, and the Japanese side is currently verifying the information.
On September 18 last year, a 10-year-old Japanese boy was stabbed to death while on his way to school in Shenzhen and died the following day after being rushed to the hospital. The 45-year-old perpetrator, Zhong Changchun, was arrested on the spot.
On January 24 this year, the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Zhong Changchun to death for intentional homicide. The verdict stated that the defendant killed the child with a knife to attract attention online. However, it did not disclose whether the crime was specifically targeted towards Japanese individuals and the detailed motive.
In addition to this case, in June last year, a Chinese man stabbed a Japanese mother and her son in Suzhou while they were waiting for a school bus to a Japanese school at the station. Hu Youping, a bystander who tried to intervene, tragically died from his injuries. The perpetrator, Zhou Jiasheng, was sentenced to death on January 23 this year and was executed on April 16.
These two cases have caused great concern among Japanese citizens in China, prompting the Japanese government to urge the Chinese authorities to quickly ascertain the truth and provide an explanation. However, the Chinese side has repeatedly claimed that these cases were isolated incidents. Moreover, Japanese media were not allowed to attend the court hearings for these cases.
According to diplomatic sources from China and Japan speaking to the Asahi Shimbun, during the trials, the fact that the victims were students at a Japanese school was not mentioned, indicating a possible intentional avoidance of relevant verification by the authorities.
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Perpetrator of Attack on Japanese Mother and Son in Suzhou Executed