Officials in Tokyo yesterday said that a Japanese boy who was stabbed near his school in southern China has died.
He was 10.
The officials asked Beijing to provide details of the stabbing and take preventive measures.
Photo: AFP
A suspect is in custody.
Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa expressed condolences and said that the attack occurred despite Tokyo’s requests for caution and enhanced safety as China marks a key anniversary of its war with Japan.
The boy was stabbed on Wednesday about 200m from the main gate of the Shenzhen Japanese School, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian (林劍) told a news conference.
The attacker was arrested on the spot and the case was still under investigation, Lin said.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Shenzhen police said that a 44-year-old man surnamed Zhong had been taken into custody in connection with a knifing on a minor.
No motive for the attack was immediately clear.
Kamikawa said that Japan had asked the Chinese ministry for increased security around Japanese schools ahead of the anniversary on Wednesday of the Mukden incident, which China marks as the beginning of Japanese invasion of Manchuria, now northeast China.
An explosion on a Japanese railway in the northern city of Shenyang caused by Japanese soldiers, but blamed on the Chinese, was used as a pretext for the invasion.
“I find it extremely regrettable that the attack occurred despite that,” Kamikawa said.
Japan takes the stabbing attack “extremely seriously” and will renew its request to Beijing to do more to ensure safety of the Japanese citizens, she said.
Such an attack “should never occur in any country,” she added.
Kamikawa said she had also advised Japanese schools in China to review their safety measures and asked Beijing to provide details of the killing and do its utmost to prevent similar attacks on Japanese.
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