Japan Embassy Message on Chinese Social Media over Boy’s Stabbing Death Draws Responses of Sympathy, Nationalism

The Yomiuri Shimbun

19:24 JST, September 19, 2024

SHENZHEN, China — A message posted Thursday on a Chinese social media platform by the Japanese Embassy in China announcing the death a 10-year-old boy stabbed the previous day by a Chinese man while walking to a Japanese school in southern China has drawn a mix of responses — most sympathetic, some nationalistic.

The Japanese Embassy in Beijing posted the message in Chinese on the popular social media platform Weibo that the boy had died from his wounds.

The message drew many comments expressing sadness or anger over the incident. “Attacking a child is nothing but an act of terrorism,” read one message in Chinese.

However, some comments dredged up historical issues between China and Japan. “The Boxer Rebellion goes on,” said one message, referring to the 1900 uprising in protest of the expanding dominance of powerful nations in China at the end of the Qing dynasty.

Another message grumbled about the Japanese school, saying, “Schools in China should be made to use educational materials approved by the Chinese government.”

Meanwhile, the flag at the embassy was flown at half-mast and Ambassador Kenji Kanasugi was to travel to Shenzhen later in the day as Japan continued to call on China to disclose information on the incident.

According to witness reports, the boy was walking on a road about 200 meters from the school on Wednesday when he was stabbed in the abdomen and other places. He was taken to the hospital in serious condition but was pronounced dead on Thursday morning.

Chinese police have detained a 44-year-old Chinese man for questioning. No motive has been revealed.

A fatal attack on a child attending a Japanese school in China is unusual and the incident could impact relations between Tokyo and Beijing.

Japanese Consul General in Guangzhou Yoshiko Takashima was the first to reveal that the boy had died, saying, “Unfortunately, he has passed away. I offer my heartfelt condolences.”

Takashima added that she would strongly request that Chinese authorities provide information about the background to this incident.

Shenzhen, where the latest attack occurred, borders Hong Kong and is a hub for high-tech industries with many Japanese companies. Shenzhen Japanese School is in a residential area with apartment buildings housing a large number of Japanese.

While it remains unclear whether anti-Japan sentiment was a factor in the Shenzhen stabbing, it is one of a string of incidents targeting Japanese people in China this year.

In June, a knife-wielding Chinese man attacked a Japanese woman and her child waiting for a school bus in the eastern city of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. A Chinese woman who was a school bus attendant was killed as she tried to intervene in the attack. A Japanese company employee stationed in China was also slashed by a man believed to be Chinese in April.