Japanese student dies after being stabbed in China

A 10-year-old student at a Japanese school in southern China has died a day after being stabbed.

Japanese officials said the boy, who attended the Shenzhen Japanese School, died on Thursday morning from his injuries.

Local police said his attacker, a 44-year-old man surnamed Zhong, was arrested at the scene.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa called the attack “despicable” and said Tokyo had asked Beijing to explain “as soon as possible”.

Although neither side confirmed the victim’s nationality, the Shenzhen Japanese School’s website said the school was for “Japanese children with Japanese nationality.”

The motive for the attack remains unclear.

The event occurred on the anniversary of the infamous Mukden Incident, when Japan staged an explosion to justify its 1931 invasion of Manchuria, sparking a 14-year war with China.

“This should never be allowed to happen in any country,” Kimikawa said.

The Shenzhen stabbing follows a similar knife attack in June, when a man targeted a Japanese mother and her child in the eastern city of Suzhou.

The Japanese Embassy in Beijing issued a statement on Thursday calling on the Chinese government to “prevent such incidents from happening again”.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the incident was under investigation.

“China will continue to take effective measures to protect the safety of all foreigners in the country,” he added.

Relations between Japan and China have long been tense – for decades the two sides have clashed over a range of issues, from historical grievances to territorial disputes.

Some observers have expressed concern that nationalist sentiment in China could lead to increased violence against foreigners.

The knife attack in Suzhou in June also occurred near a Japanese school and resulting in the death of a Chinese citizen who tried to protect a Japanese mother and her child. Earlier that month, Four American teachers stabbed in the northern city of Jilin.

China described both incidents as “isolated incidents”.

A former Japanese diplomat said Wednesday’s attack in Shenzhen was “the result of years of anti-Japanese education” in Chinese schools.

“This has taken away the precious life of a Japanese child,” Shingo Yamagami, former Japanese ambassador to Australia, wrote on X.

Several Japanese schools in China have contacted parents, raising vigilance after the Shenzhen stabbing.

Guangzhou Japanese Language School has canceled some activities and warned against speaking Japanese loudly in public.

Earlier this year, the Japanese government requested around $2.5m (£1.9m) to hire security guards for school buses in China.

On Chinese social media, there were some condemnations of the incident with one user commenting “violence is not patriotism”.