Japanese firms caution staff in China after child stabbed to death
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The 10-year-old was stabbed on Sept 18 in Shenzhen during the child’s commute to school.
ST PHOTO: JOYCE ZK LIM
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TOKYO – Some of Japan’s biggest companies urged the protection of employees in China, following the fatal stabbing in the mainland of a young Japanese child.
Toyota Motor Corp has warned staff in China to be on alert in accordance with embassy guidelines, the carmaker told Bloomberg.
Manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said it is spreading awareness of the incident among workers in the country and advising they practise caution.
Japan’s largest carmakers are “taking various countermeasures”, including the dissemination and sharing of information to employees and among firms, said Mr Masanori Katayama, chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
Similar steps have been taken by entertainment giant Sony Group Corp, electronics group Toshiba Corp, cosmetics and household product maker Kao Corp and Murata Manufacturing Co, an Apple Inc component maker.
Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa earlier confirmed the death of the 10-year-old
It was the latest in a series of assaults on foreigners in China in recent months, and was at least the second to involve Japanese citizens in the country.
The incident could sour corporate ties between the two nations, with the neighbours’ relations already strained on fronts ranging from historical resentments to an ongoing territorial dispute.
Some 13,000 Japanese companies are located in China, according to Teikoku Databank.
Around 100,000 Japanese nationals lived in the country as of 2023, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said. BLOOMBERG
