In a shocking incident in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, a Japanese mother and her child were stabbed by a man in front of a school bus on Monday. A Chinese woman school bus attendant was also critically injured in the attack, an official from the Japanese Nationals Overseas Safety Division of Japan’s Foreign Ministry informed CNN.
The mother and child sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were promptly taken to a hospital for treatment. The Japanese consulate in Shanghai reported that “a man, possibly Chinese,” was responsible for the knife attack.
According to a police statement from Suzhou on Tuesday, a 52-year-old unemployed suspect, identified by the surname Zhou, was arrested at the scene. Another Chinese national, who attempted to intervene, was critically injured and remains in serious condition.
“The investigation of the case is ongoing, and the criminal behavior will be severely punished in accordance with the law and regulations,” the police statement declared.
China’s Foreign Ministry expressed regret over the incident and vowed to enhance measures to protect foreigners’ safety in the country. “Such isolated incidents may happen in any country in the world,” spokesperson Mao Ning stated during a regular news briefing.
The Japanese Embassy in Beijing revealed that the mother is in her 30s and her son is of pre-school age. Eyewitness accounts described a chaotic scene as the attacker, described as a man in his 50s or 60s, wielded a knife at the bus stop near a Japanese school.
A woman who was present told NHK, a Japanese public broadcaster, that she saw the attacker grab a boy and swing towards him with a knife. The bus attendant and parents on the scene managed to subdue the attacker using an umbrella and a bag.
This incident marks the second attack on foreigners in China this month. Earlier, four instructors from a US college were stabbed by a Chinese man in Jilin city. Though knife attacks are not uncommon in China due to stringent gun control laws, such attacks against foreigners are rare.
The Suzhou Japanese School, located near the attack site, has been a focal point for the Japanese community, hosting many families associated with Japanese manufacturing plants in the area. Following the incident, the school was closed on Tuesday, and security has been heightened at other Japanese schools across China.
Chinese social media initially censored news of the attack, with search results for “Japanese school” on platforms like Weibo heavily filtered. However, the censorship eased after the Chinese Foreign Ministry addressed the incident.
China has seen a rise in ultra-nationalism and anti-Japanese sentiment, partly due to historical grievances from Japan’s invasion of China during World War II. Under President Xi Jinping’s leadership, aggressive nationalism has increased, and Japanese schools in China have faced growing scrutiny and criticism. Some online rhetoric has even called for the closure of these schools, accusing them of espionage.
The Suzhou Japanese School, established in 2005, offers elementary and junior high school curriculums and mandates that students be picked up by a parent or guardian. The school’s closure and the heightened security measures reflect the ongoing concerns for the safety of Japanese nationals in China.
This story continues to develop as authorities investigate the motive behind the attack and take steps to ensure the safety of foreign residents in China.