An attacker stabbed and wounded a pupil at a Japanese school in Shenzhen, southern China, according to a Chinese official.
This is the second such attack near Japanese educational facilities in recent months.
The attack occurred on a sensitive date, the anniversary of an incident in 1931 that precipitated a war between China and Japan.
“A 10-year-old student of a Japanese school in Shenzhen was stabbed by a man about 200 meters from the school gate,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
The student was promptly brought to the hospital, and the attacker was apprehended on the spot, he said. Police in Shenzhen said that a child was stabbed about 8 a.m.
According to the article, the attacker was 44 years old and went by the surname Zhong, but no motivation was given.
Neither the foreign ministry spokeswoman nor the police report mentioned the victim’s nationality, although Japanese media reported that the student was a Japanese boy.
The Shenzhen Japanese School, which is located in the same neighbourhood as the police office that submitted the report, claims to be for children of Japanese nationality on its website.
“The case is still under investigation. China will continue to take effective measures to protect the safety of all foreigners in the country,” Lin said.
This incident follows a similar one in June, when a man attacked a Japanese school bus in the eastern city of Suzhou, killing a Chinese national who attempted to protect a Japanese woman and her child from the perpetrator.
Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, Hiroshi Moriya, said on Wednesday that Tokyo had asked China to prevent such an incident from happening again. Japan also dispatched officials to the area to offer assistance.
“Japan will continue to work closely with the Chinese authorities and make every effort to ensure the safety of its overseas nationals,” he told a press conference.
Later, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano called the Chinese ambassador to Japan, expressing deep worry about the situation.
Wednesday marks the 93rd anniversary of the Mukden Incident, a “false flag” operation manufactured by the Japanese military to justify its invasion of its neighbour.
Historians estimate that 14 million Chinese people died and 100 million more became refugees as a result of the subsequent war.
