Japanese mother, child attacked with knife at bus stop in China’s Suzhou
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TOKYO - A Japanese woman and her child were attacked with a knife in a Chinese city near Shanghai, adding to a flurry of stabbing incidents in a country where violence is rare.
An unidentified man attacked the Japanese woman and her child at a bus stop in Suzhou city on June 24, according to the Japanese embassy in China. They were attacked when a bus arrived at the stop, and later taken to hospital after suffering “non-life threatening injuries”.
The suspect, who appeared to be Chinese, has been taken into custody, the embassy said in a statement.
A third victim, a Chinese female bus attendant, remained in critical condition in hospital.
The Japanese government has made representations to its Chinese counterparts, asking Beijing to ensure the safety of Japanese people in China, reported Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun.
The knife attack was an isolated incident and could have happened in any country in the world, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on June 25.
The incident reportedly happened at Huaihai Street, where the Japanese School of Suzhou is. The street is also known as Suzhou’s “Japanese Street”, thanks to a high concentration of Japanese shops and restaurants there.
The vehicle was carrying Japanese schoolchildren on their way home from school, said Japan’s consulate-general in Shanghai.
A Japanese woman was at the bus stop, waiting to pick up her child, when the attack happened.
She told Japanese broadcaster NHK that she saw a man grabbing the clothes of a boy near a bus. The man who appeared to be in his 50s made a swinging motion towards the boy with a knife, before he was subdued by other adults with a combination of umbrellas and bags.
“It was very scary,” the woman told NHK. “There are many kind people in China who are tolerant of children, but I was reminded that we need to be alert.”
Japanese schools in China tightened security after the attack.
The Japanese School in Suzhou was closed on June 25 as a precautionary measure, NHK reported. Japanese schools in Beijing and Shanghai held classes, but parents have been asked to watch over their children when going to school.
The Japanese consulate-general in Shanghai has also requested Suzhou authorities to strengthen local security to avoid a repeat.
The Japanese Embassy in Beijing has called for caution, and urged its residents to be extremely mindful of their surroundings when going out.
The attack follows a string of stabbing incidents across China in recent weeks. Earlier in June, four US college instructors were stabbed in a public park in the northeastern city of Jilin. China’s Foreign Ministry said it was an isolated incident. The spate of attacks drew reaction from Chinese social media users, with some linking the incidents to discontent over the economic downturn.
The Japanese embassy said stabbing incidents have been reported in public places throughout China in recent days, warning its nationals to be aware of their surroundings. The Suzhou police couldn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The knifing incident could mark a setback to China-Japan ties, which have been rocked by disputes over Tokyo’s discharge of treated nuclear wastewater and the Senkaku Islands that both sides claim as their own.
Still, Japanese companies are the single largest source of foreign direct investments in China by country, although those firms are becoming much less willing to add new money as the Chinese economy slows and geopolitical tensions rise. There are 11 Japanese schools operating in mainland China. BLOOMBERG
