A 10-year-old student at a Japanese school in southern China died one day after being stabbed by a knife attacker.
The student, who attended Shenzhen Japanese School, died from his injuries early Thursday, according to Japanese officials.
His assailant, a 44-year-old man called Zhong, was arrested on the spot, according to local police.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa described the strike as “despicable” and said Tokyo has requested an explanation “as soon as possible” from Beijing.
“This should never happen in any country,” he added.
While neither party has confirmed the victim’s nationality, the Shenzhen Japanese School website states that it is for “Japanese children who have Japanese nationality.”
The motivation for the incident was not immediately revealed.
However, some analysts are concerned that nationalist feelings in China may lead to more violence against outsiders.
In June, a guy in Suzhou, eastern China, attacked a Japanese mother and her toddler.
That attack occurred near a Japanese school and resulted in the death of a Chinese national who attempted to protect the Japanese visitors.
Beijing has said they were “isolated incidents.” But the Japanese embassy in Beijing called on the Chinese government to “prevent such incidents from happening again.”.
Four American teachers were stabbed in Jilin, northern China, earlier in June.
Lin Jian, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, told a press conference on Wednesday that the stabbing of the student in Shenzhen was still being probed.
“China will continue to take effective measures to protect the safety of all foreigners in the country,” the president stated.
Some have pointed out that the stabbing occurred on the anniversary of the notorious Mukden Incident, in which Japan staged an explosion to justify its invasion of Manchuria in 1931, sparking a 14-year war with China.
Relations between the two countries have long been strained.
For decades, the two sides have clashed over a variety of topics, including historical grudges and territorial disputes.
