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Liu Zhen

The foreign ministers of Japan and China are expected to meet in New York this week over the fatal stabbing of Japanese schoolboy in Shenzhen and hostile messages about Japan posted on Chinese social media platforms.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said on Monday that she would “strongly urge” her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi “to provide a clear explanation of the facts and ensure the safety of Japanese people, especially children”.
Their talks will take place on the sidelines of the high-level meetings of the United Nations General Assembly starting on Tuesday, according to the Japanese foreign ministry.
Before setting off for the United States on Monday, Kamikawa also said Japan would spend 43 million yen (US$300,000) to boost security at Japanese schools in China.
Separately, the Chinese foreign ministry said that the murder of the 10-year-old in the southern Chinese city was still under investigation.
“The Shenzhen authorities have released the relevant information available so far,” ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Monday, without offering details.
This came as Japanese foreign vice-minister Yoshifumi Tsuge travelled to Beijing to discuss the matter.
Meeting his Chinese counterpart Sun Weidong on Monday, Tsuge demanded that Beijing clarify the facts about the case, including the suspect’s motive, “as soon as possible”, according to a statement from the Japanese foreign ministry.

Lin said the two ministers had recognised efforts on either side “to settle the unfortunate incident properly and calmly”.
They had also agreed to maintain communication on the matter and pledged to avoid letting individual cases “affect bilateral relations”, he said, adding that China “would continue to facilitate and assist the families as much as possible with regard to the aftermath of the incident”.
Tsuge also called on China to tighten control over anti-Japanese social media posts, including unfounded claims about Japanese schools in the country, the Japanese ministry statement said.
Lin denied there was any “Japan-hatred education” in China, noting that many Shenzhen residents had voluntarily placed flowers at the site of the tragedy “for mourning, opposing violence, and praying for everlasting friendship between the two countries”.
“Our proposal to take history as a mirror is not to extend any hatred, but to avoid repeating the tragedy of war, to cherish the hard-won peace and to face the future in a better manner,” he said.
The 10-year-old, whose mother is Chinese, was on his way to school last Wednesday when he was attacked. He died of his injuries the following day. The suspect, a 44-year-old Chinese man, was held by police at the scene, but authorities have yet to disclose his motive.


Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has demanded an explanation and urged China to ensure the safety of Japanese citizens in the country, while Beijing has expressed “regret and sadness” for what it called an isolated incident that “could happen in any country”.
However, there has been speculation that the killing might be related to hatred for Japan as it took place on September 18, the 93rd anniversary of the “Mukden incident” or “Manchurian incident”. The 1931 event marked the beginning of Japan’s invasion and occupation of northeastern China. It eventually led to the second Sino-Japanese war until 1945, and is marked in China as a day of national humiliation.
In June, a Japanese mother and child were injured in a similar knife attack in Suzhou, a city in eastern China with a sizeable Japanese population. The pair were attacked at a bus stop outside a Japanese school. Chinese bus attendant Hou Youping, 54, was fatally wounded as she tried to fight off the attacker, a 52-year-old unemployed man.
That attack was also described as an “isolated incident” by the authorities.


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China-Japan relations

Top diplomats of Japan, China to meet in New York over killing of Japanese schoolboy

The Japanese embassy in Beijing flies the national flag at half mast on September 19, after the 10-year-old attacked in Shenzhen died of his injuries. Photo: AFP 

Bouquets left outside the Shenzhen Japanese School in memory of the 10-year-old who was fatally attacked while on his way to class. Photo: Reuters 

Japan sends official ‘to deal with’ fatal stabbing of Shenzhen schoolboy

Bouquets of flowers lay outside Shenzhen Japanese School following the death of the 10-year-old child who was stabbed. Photo: Reuters

Shenzhen Japanese School. Japan’s state minister for foreign affairs Yoshifumi Tsuge is visiting China “to deal with the death of a child” at the school, his ministry said. Photo: Reuters

Suspect in Japanese boy’s stabbing is jobless with criminal record, Chinese media says

Chinese paramilitary police officers march past the entrance of the Japanese embassy in Beijing on Thursday. China has expressed “regret and sadness” after a Japanese schoolboy died after being stabbed on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

China to ‘gradually’ lift ban on Japanese seafood imports

China says it will allow imports of Japanese seafood to resume, just over a year after a ban was imposed. Photo: Jiji Press

Japanese child’s fatal stabbing in China is an ‘isolated case’, Beijing says

Chinese authorities inspect the scene of a stabbing at the Shenzhen Japanese School on Wednesday. A 10-year-old student attacked by a man died on Thursday. Photo: Kyodo

Security guards put up a curtain to cover the name of the Nanshan district school, as well as placing a box for mourners to put flowers in. They allowed the media take photos before taking the flowers away. Photo: Phoebe Zhang

Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa speaks to journalists in Tokyo on Thursday about the stabbing death of a Japanese child in China. Photo: Kyodo

A floral tribute to a child fatally stabbed in Shenzhen is left outside a school in Nanshan district on Thursday. “Though separated by mountains and rivers, we share one moon under the same sky,” the card says. Photo: Phoebe Zhang

News

China

Diplomacy

Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa of Japan says she will ‘strongly urge’ Chinese counterpart ‘to provide a clear explanation of the facts’


Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa of Japan says she will ‘strongly urge’ Chinese counterpart ‘to provide a clear explanation of the facts’.


Accidents, extreme weather and disasters in China