A 10-year-old Japanese boy who was attacked on his way to school in Shenzhen, China, has succumbed to his injuries, according to a statement from the Japanese government on Thursday, September 19.
The young victim, a primary school student, was assaulted on Wednesday near educational facilities catering to Japanese expatriates in China.
This incident is the latest in a troubling series of knife attacks targeting foreigners in the country.
“A 10-year-old student of a Japanese school in Shenzhen was stabbed by a man about 200 meters from the school gate,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian confirmed.
He noted that the child was rushed to a hospital immediately after the attack, and that the suspected assailant was apprehended at the scene.
A Japanese government source revealed that the boy was en route to school when the incident occurred. Contrary to the initial reports, which suggested the student was in stable condition, he tragically passed away despite medical efforts.
A police report from the Shenzhen district housing the Japanese school stated that the attack took place around 8 a.m.
The assailant, identified by his surname Zhong, is a 44-year-old man. The report did not provide a motive for the attack.
During a press briefing, Lin Jian stated that the investigation is ongoing and assured that China will “continue to take effective measures to protect the safety of all foreigners.”
This statement comes in the wake of heightened concerns over the safety of foreign nationals in the region.
This tragic incident follows two separate knife attacks on foreigners earlier this year. On June 11, four instructors from a U.S. college in northeastern China were attacked while walking through a park.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry dismissed the incident as an isolated event. Later that month, a man assaulted a bus carrying students from a Japanese school in Suzhou, injuring a Japanese mother and her child. A Chinese woman who tried to intervene lost her life in the altercation.
In response to the recent stabbing, Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Moriya stated that Japan has demanded comprehensive information regarding the attack and urged Chinese authorities to implement measures to prevent such occurrences in the future. “Japan will continue to work closely with the Chinese authorities and make every effort to ensure the safety of its overseas nationals,” Moriya emphasized at a press conference.
In light of the recent events, other Japanese schools in China have heightened security protocols.
The Guangzhou Japanese School, located approximately 86 miles from Shenzhen, has advised parents to accompany their children to and from school for the remainder of the week and cautioned against speaking Japanese loudly in public.
Earlier in 2024, the Japanese government took steps to bolster security for its citizens abroad, allocating around $2.5 million to subsidize bus security for Japanese schools in China.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sought these funds to hire security guards for school buses, reflecting growing concerns about the safety of Japanese nationals in the country.
Wednesday’s attack coincided with the 93rd anniversary of the Mukden Incident, a railway explosion that Japan used as justification for invading northeastern China in 1931.
This invasion led to one of the most devastating conflicts in the region, resulting in the deaths of nearly 14 million Chinese and displacing over 100 million more.
The anniversary of this historical event is often marked by heightened tensions between the two nations, further complicating the current situation.
