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SHANGHAI: 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 Monday (June 24) afternoon, according to the Japanese embassy in China. The suspect, who appeared to be Chinese, has been taken into custody, the embassy said in a statement.
The attack follows a string of stabbing incidents across China in recent weeks. Earlier this month, 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
