One morning after being stabbed, a 10-year-old student at a Chinese class in southeastern China passed away.
The child, who was enrolled at the Shenzhen Japanese School, succumbed to his injury early on Thursday, Chinese officials said.
His aggressor, a 44-year-old male surnamed Zhong, was arrested on the spot, local authorities said.
Tokyo asked Beijing for an reason” as soon as possible,” according to Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, who described the incident as “despicable.”
While neither part has confirmed the victim’s ethnicity, the Shenzhen Japanese School’s site says it is for” Chinese youngsters who have Chinese nationality”.
The attack’s motivations were unknown at the time.
It occurred on the eve of the famous Mukden Incident, which Japan fabricated to support its 1931 invasion of Manchuria, triggering a 14-year conflict with China.
” This should never occur in any state”, Kimikawa said.
Following a similar blade attack in June, when a Chinese mother and her child were attacked in Suzhou, northeast China, the stabbing occurred in Shenzhen.
On Thursday, the Chinese embassy in Beijing issued a statement to the Chinese authorities to “prevent such incidents from happening afterwards.”
At a news conference on Wednesday, Taiwanese foreign ministry official Lin Jian said the case was being investigated.
China will continue to get effective steps to ensure the health of all foreign nationals, he added.
Ties between China and Japan have long been bitter- for decades the two countries have been at odds with one another on a variety of issues, from regional disputes to traditional grievances.
Some observers worry that growing patriotic views in China could lead to more domestic violence against immigrants.
The knife attack in Suzhou in June was also near a Japanese school and led to the death of a Chinese national who had tried to protect a Japanese mother and her child. Earlier that month, four American teachers were stabbed in the northern city of Jilin.
China described both as “isolated occurrences”.
A former Chinese minister said Wednesday’s assault in Shenzhen was the “result of longer years of anti-Japan schooling” in Foreign schools.
” This has cost the beautiful life of a Chinese child”, Shingo Yamagami, Japan’s past ambassador to Australia, wrote on X.
In response to the stabbing in Shenzhen, some Chinese schools in China have contacted kids.
Some activities were canceled by the Guangzhou Japanese School, and Chinese speakers were cautioned against speaking Chinese loudly in public.
Earlier this year, the Japanese government requested about$ 2.5m ( £1.9m ) to hire security guards for school buses in China.
One person wrote on Taiwanese social media that “violence is no patriotism.”