2024 Shenzhen knife attack
edit | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (September 2024) |
| TheLonelyPather/sandbox2 | |
|---|---|
 The gates of the Shenzhen Japanese School | |
| Location | Shenzhen, Guangdong, China |
| Date | 18 September 2024 (UTC+08:00) |
Attack type | Stabbing attack |
| Deaths | 1 |
On 18 September 2024, a Chinese man attacked a Japanese schoolboy with a knife near the Japanese School in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. The attacker, 44-year old surnamed Zhong, was arrested, while the boy died of injuries on the next day.
Context
editThere are many Japanese companies in Shenzhen, a center of high technology in China. In 2008, the Shenzhen Japanese School was opened, accepting elementary and junior high school students. According to The Asahi Shimbun, Japanese parents and children often walk to school together as many of them live nearby.[1]
Two attacks against foreigners had happened in China earlier in 2024. In June, a man stabbed four American teachers in Jilin City. In a separate incident that month, another man attacked a Japanese mother and her son in Suzhou, resulting in the death of a Chinese woman.[2] After the Suzhou attack, Chinese internet companies curbed extreme content on Chinese internet.[1]
18 September is also the date of the Mukden incident, a 1931 Japanese military operation that led to its invasion of Manchuria and the Second Sino-Japanese War.[3][2]
Attack and aftermath
editAbout 8 am on Wednesday, 18 September 2024,[4] a man stabbed a Japanese boy on his way to the Shenzhen Japanese School. The attack happened on a street 200 meters away from the school.[3] The assailant, a 44-year old with last name Zhong, was immediately arrested.[2] According to China's foreign ministry, the boy was a Japanese national with a Japanese father and a Chinese mother.[2][5] Kyodo News reported that the boy was with his mother at the time of the attack.[3] The boy was taken to hospital under severe injuries[3] and died on 19 September.[1]
On the day that the attack happened, Masataka Okano, Vice Foreign Minister of Japan, summoned Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao.[3] Kenji Kanasugi, Japanese Ambassador to China, called on the Chinese administration to protect Japanese residents.[3] Lin Jian, spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, pledged to continue to "take effective measures to protect the safety of all foreigners".[3]
A day after the attack, the Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida "strongly demand[ed]" an explanation from the Chinese side.[5] The Chinese spokesperson Lin Jian said that the Chinese side would provide "necessary assistance" to the boy's family, but also called the incident "an individual case" that could happen "in any country".[6]
References
edit- ^ a b c Yohei Kobayakawa; Ryo Inoue (September 19, 2024). "Japanese boy in China dies after knife attack; expats shaken". The Asahi Shimbun.
- ^ a b c d Nick Marsh (19 September 2024). "Ten-year-old Japanese boy dies after stabbing in China". BBC.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Japanese pupil stabbed by man near school in China's Shenzhen". Kyodo News. 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Student injured in knife attack near Japanese school in south China". Reuters. September 18, 2024.
- ^ a b Nectar Gan; Junko Ogura (September 19, 2024). "Japan's leader demands answers from China over schoolboy's fatal stabbing". CNN.
- ^ David Kirton; Mei Mei Chu; Kiyoshi Takenaka. "10-year-old Japanese schoolboy in China dies after stabbing". Reuters.