10-year-old Japanese boy dies after knife attack in China – The Diplomat

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 Kamikawa Yoko expressed his 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 had asked the Chinese Foreign Ministry to strengthen security measures at Japanese schools ahead of September 18, the anniversary of the Mukden Incident in 1931. China considers that incident to be 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.

Following an earlier stabbing attack at a Japanese school's bus stop, Japan's Foreign Ministry has asked operators of Japanese schools in China to review their security measures, said Mizobuchi Masashi, 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 can happen in any country,” and denied that the attacks would harm China's relations with Japan.

“China and Japan are in contact on this issue. We always welcome people from all countries, including Japan, to come to China to travel, study, do business or live,” 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.

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.

While news of the 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.

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.