Stabbing in Chinese school: 10-year-old Japanese boy dies from his injuries

BEIJING, China –

Officials in Tokyo said Thursday that a 10-year-old Japanese student who was stabbed near his school in southern China had died. They called on Beijing to release details of the stabbing and take preventive measures. A suspect is in custody.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa expressed her condolences and pointed out that the attack came despite Tokyo's calls for caution and increased security as China marks an important anniversary of its war with Japan.

The student was stabbed about 200 meters from the gate of the Shenzhen Japanese School on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in a daily briefing. Lin said the attacker was arrested on the spot and the case was still under investigation.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Shenzhen police said a 44-year-old man surnamed Zhong had been arrested in connection with a knife attack on a minor.

The motive for the attack was not immediately apparent.

Kamikawa pointed out that Japan has asked the Chinese Foreign Ministry to strengthen security measures at Japanese schools ahead of Sept. 18, the anniversary of the Mukden Incident, which China considers the beginning of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in what is now northeast China.

The pretext for the invasion was an explosion on a Japanese railway track in the northern Japanese city of Shenyang, for which Japanese soldiers were blamed but the Chinese were blamed.

“I find it extremely regrettable that the attack took place anyway,” Kamikawa said. Japan takes the attack “extremely seriously” and will renew its call on Beijing to do more to ensure the safety of Japanese citizens, she added.

Such an attack “should not happen in any country,” Kamikawa said.

Chinese authorities investigate the scene of a stabbing at the Shenzhen Japanese School in Shenzhen, China, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, after a 10-year-old Japanese student was attacked by a man. (Kyodo News via AP)

Kamikawa said she had also advised Japanese schools in China to review their security measures and called on Beijing to disclose details of the killing and do everything possible to prevent similar attacks on Japanese citizens.

Following an earlier stabbing attack at a Japanese school bus stop, the ministry has asked operators of Japanese schools in China to review their security measures, said Masashi Mizobuchi, the ministry's deputy press secretary. Officials will discuss how to better ensure the safety of Japanese students.

On June 24, a knife attack occurred at the bus stop of a Japanese school in the southeastern city of Suzhou, killing a Chinese citizen who tried to stop the attacker and injuring a Japanese mother and her child.

While news of the Japanese boy's death did not appear in Chinese media on Thursday, people on the social media platform Weibo expressed their condolences and condemned the attack.

One user wrote: “Please don't hurt innocent people regardless of their nationality.”

In an email to Japanese citizens living in China, the Japanese embassy urged residents to be vigilant and take precautions. Knife attacks have occurred in recent months. The Japanese consulate in Guangzhou, which has jurisdiction over Shenzhen, called for measures to prevent such incidents.

At the beginning of June, a Chinese man stabbed four US university lecturers and a Chinese man who tried to intervene in a public park in Jilin in northeast China. The four lecturers from Cornell College were teaching at Beihua University. Their injuries were not life-threatening.

Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.