Several Japanese Companies In China Offer Home Staff After The 10-Year-Old Boy Stabbing Incident

JAKARTA - Several Japanese companies in China offered to send their staff and families back home after a 10-year-old Japanese boy was fatally stabbed in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.

This was conveyed by the Japanese Executive and employees of Japanese companies in Beijing, reported by Channelnewsasia, Friday, September 20.

Wednesday's stabbing was the second attack near Japanese schools in China in recent months, and comes at the commemoration of an incident in 1931 that sparked war between China and Japan.

The Japanese embassy met with the Japanese Chamber of Commerce, Beijing's Japanese school on Thursday evening to discuss the safety of Japan's Japanese community in China, the embassy said in a statement.

Japan's ambassador to Beijing Kenji Kanasugi also spoke with Chinese deputy foreign minister Sun Weidong and asked Beijing to step up security measures, the statement added.

The embassy did not mention anything about relocation, but Beijing-based Japanese executives, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter, said some companies offered the option to their employees.

Employees at four Japanese companies also said several major companies in China had given Japanese employees and their families the option to be relocated home at the cost of the company, or were considering doing so.

"It was a very tough surprise," the executive told Reuters. "And this is another example where a Japanese school is targeted."

"Regarding temporary leave, yes, that's true, and many Japanese companies will do it," he said. "We need to know why this is happening again... otherwise we can't live and work here."

China's foreign ministry on Thursday expressed its condolences to the families of the victims, calling the crime an "individual case".

Japan has urged the Chinese government to do its best to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals there, as well as provide details about the incident, the Japanese embassy said.

The embassy did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

On Wednesday, a 44-year-old man surnamed Zhong stabbed the 10-year-old boy on his way to school. The boy, who is a Japanese citizen born to Japanese father and Chinese mother, died a day later.

The attacker has claimed to have attacked the boy and was previously arrested in 2015 on charges of destroying public telecommunications facilities, Chinese media reported on Friday.