Japanese School Students In China's Shenzhen Stabbed

PIXABAY ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - An attacker stabbed a student at a Japanese school in Shenzhen, southern China. This incident marks the second attack near Japanese educational facilities in the country in recent months.

The attack occurred on a sensitive date, a 1931 incident anniversary that sparked a war between China and Japan.

A 10-year-old student from a Japanese school in Shenzhen was stabbed by a man about 200 meters from the school gate, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian.

The student was immediately taken to the hospital and the attacker was arrested on the spot.

Police in Shenzhen said a teenager was stabbed at around 8 am. The suspected attacker surnamed Zhong and 44 years old, the report said, but had no motive.

Neither a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor a police report stated the victim's citizenship, but Japanese media said the student was a Japanese boy.

The Japanese school website Shenzhen, located in the same district as the police station that published the report, said the school was intended for Japanese children.

"This case is still under investigation. China will continue to take effective action to protect the safety of all foreigners in its country," said Lin.

The incident came after a similar incident in June, when a man attacked a bus used by a Japanese school in the eastern part of Suzhou, resulting in the death of a Chinese citizen who tried to protect a Japanese mother and her child from an attacker.

Deputy Chief Secretary of the Japanese Cabinet Hiroshi Moriya said Tokyo had asked China to prevent similar attacks from happening again. Japan also sent officials to the area to provide support.

"Japan will continue to cooperate with Chinese authorities and make every effort to ensure the safety of its citizens abroad," he said.

Later, Japan's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Masataka Okano summoned China's ambassador to Japan and expressed deep concern over the incident.