10-year-old Japanese boy dies in China after stabbing near his school

• A ten-year-old Japanese student was stabbed and died near his school in southern China, officials in Tokyo said.
• The attacker was arrested on the spot and the case is still under investigation, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
• The incident occurred around the anniversary of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in what is now northeast China in 1931.

A 10-year-old Japanese student who was stabbed near his school in southern China has died, Tokyo officials said Thursday. 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.

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In a statement released on Wednesday, Shenzhen police said a 44-year-old man surnamed Zhong had been taken into custody in connection with the stabbing 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 in 1931, which China considers the beginning of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, 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, adding that such an attack “should not happen in any country.” 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.

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.

Lin expressed his condolences and sorrow over the boy's death on Thursday. “Our sympathy goes out to his family,” he said, adding that China would provide the necessary assistance. He identified the boy as a Japanese national with parents from Japan and China.

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.

Lin denied any connection between the two incidents, saying “similar cases could happen in any country” and denied that the attacks would harm China's relations with Japan.

“China and Japan are in contact on this matter. We always welcome people from all countries, including Japan, to come to China for travel, study, business or living,” Lin said, pledging to take effective measures to ensure their safety during their stay in China.

“We believe that individual cases will not affect exchanges and cooperation between China and Japan,” he said.

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

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.