On Wednesday, September 18th, a 10-year-old Japanese boy was attacked while on his way to school in Shenzhen. Japanese authorities confirmed that the boy passed away early Thursday morning after rescue efforts proved ineffective. This incident has once again heightened tensions in the diplomatic relationship between China and Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the heinous crime and demanded a prompt explanation from the Chinese government regarding the incident.
This marks the third such incident to occur in China in recent months.
Prime Minister Kishida expressed to reporters on Thursday that this was a “despicable criminal act” and a serious event. He urged Beijing authorities to protect Japanese citizens in China.
“We strongly demand that China clarify the facts of the case. As more than a day has passed since the incident, we have instructed them to provide an explanation promptly,” Kishida stated. “Such events must not be repeated. We strongly urge China to ensure the safety of the Japanese people.”
The victimized boy attended a Japanese school in Shenzhen. According to official information from the Chinese government, the boy was a Japanese citizen with a Japanese father and a Chinese mother.
Around 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, he was stabbed by a man while on his way to school, approximately 200 meters from the school gate.
Police reports indicate that the 44-year-old suspect, surnamed Zhong, was arrested on the spot.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in Tokyo confirmed to the media that the boy succumbed to his injuries early Thursday. She stated that following the attack, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested a review of security measures at Japanese schools in China.
Kamikawa noted that prior to the Remembrance Day of the September 18th Incident, Japan had already requested China to “take comprehensive measures to ensure the safety of Japanese schools. Therefore, we are extremely disappointed by the occurrence of such an event under these circumstances.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stated that this was an isolated incident, and China will continue to take effective measures to ensure the safety of all foreign citizens in the country.
Sanae Takaichi, the Minister in charge of economic and security affairs who is running for the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party, criticized the Chinese government on the social media platform X for not providing an explanation regarding the incident.
She stated that so far, China “has not explained the motive of the perpetrator or the background of the incident. The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made repeated requests, and we once again urge the Chinese government to provide specific measures to ensure the safety of Japanese people in China.”
Although the Chinese authorities did not mention the motive of the assailant in the attack on Wednesday, in recent years, due to China’s anti-Japanese and anti-American education and propaganda, nationalist and xenophobic sentiments have been on the rise in China, with state media often fanning such emotions.
On June 24th, a man attacked a Japanese school bus in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, injuring a Japanese mother and child, with the Chinese woman, Hu Youping, who tried to stop the assailant, tragically losing her life.
On June 10th, four teachers from Cornell College in Iowa were stabbed by a man in a park in Jilin. U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal following the incident, condemned the Chinese government for inciting anti-American sentiments domestically. He expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of sufficient information on the criminal motives received from the Chinese authorities regarding the stabbing of the four teachers.
(This article was referenced from CNN reporting)