Japanese Boy Killed in Shenzhen

A ten-year-old boy on his way to school with a parent was stubbed to death by a man in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, on September 18. The man is under investigation of Chinese police. Not only expatriates in China but the people in Japan are shocked by the violence targeted on the Japanese in China. It makes a diplomatic case, as Japanese government sent China a serious concern.

According to the reports in Japan, the boy was assaulted by the man at two hundred meters away from his Japanese school. Although the Chinese government explained that the boy was immediately brought to a hospital and had medical treatment, the boy was dead next day. A forty-four-year-old man was arrested as a suspect and is under investigation of Chinese Police.

 

September 18 marked ninety-third anniversary from Mukden (Liutiaohu) Incident, a false flag blast on railway which led to Japan’s occupation of Manchuria. This is the day, called “National Infamy Day,” for the Chinese to protest Japan that invaded Manchuria and led to China-Japan war. Although Chinese government has not announced the motivation of the arrested man, some reports in Japan indicated possibility of relationship between the man and that anti-Japan sentiment.

 

Vice-minister for Foreign Affairs, Masataka Okano, called Chinese Ambassador to Japan, Wu Jianghao, requesting enhanced guarding around the Japanese school and security for the Japanese in China. “It was heartbreaking incident and we will enhance safety for foreign people in China, including the Japanese,” told Wu to Okano, according to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Japan.

 

Shenzhen is one of the cities in China which had rapidly grown with economic development under “reform and opening up” policy started in late 20th century. A number of foreign business people, including the Japanese, and their families are living in the city. The incident on the boy on his ordinary day of going to school shocked the people in the area. The Consular General in Guangzhou, Yoshiko Kijima, told reporters that she requested Chinese authority to provide with detailed information.

 

A man assaulted a school’s bus for Japanese students in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, in June, which caused injury of a mother and her child. Japanese Ambassador to China, Kenji Kanasugi, demanded Chinese Foreign Ministry detailed investigation both on incidents in Suzhou and Shenzhen.

 

After the incident in Shenzhen, some Japanese companies allowed their business people and their families getting back to Japan, considering uneasiness of living in China. There have been some incidents of the Chinese with anti-Japan sentiment even in Japan, including graffiti on assets of Yasukuni Shrine. Reckless activities affect diplomacy and business of both countries.

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