TOKYO, Sept 19 (Askume) – A 10-year-old boy studying at a Japanese language school in Shenzhen, China was stabbed to death by an attacker on Wednesday, the Japanese government said .
According to Chinese authorities, the boy was stabbed by a 44-year-old suspect on his way to school at around 8 a.m. (0000 GMT) on Wednesday and the attacker was arrested at the scene. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa told reporters the child died on Thursday morning.
“I take this incident very seriously,” Kamikawa said.
“This kind of thing should not happen in any country. I am particularly saddened that a child on his way to school committed such a heinous act.”
Japan requires China to explain the facts in detail and take stronger security measures.
Both Japanese and Chinese authorities refused to disclose the nationality of the victims, while the Shenzhen Japanese School’s website said it was targeting Japanese children. Japan does not recognize dual nationality for adults.
The attack, which took place near the school, occurred on the anniversary of the 1931 events that sparked the Sino-Japanese War, a sensitive day when diplomatic relations risk being soured.
This is the second such attack near a Japanese educational institution in China in recent months.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment on any possible impact of the latest incident on bilateral relations.
In June, a man attacked a bus used by a Japanese school in the eastern city of Suzhou, killing a Chinese national who was trying to protect a Japanese mother and her children from the attacker.
Also on Wednesday, a Chinese aircraft carrier entered Japanese waters for the first time , the latest in a series of military drills that have triggered protests in Tokyo and Beijing.
