Japanese boy’s death sparks worry, debate

The killing of a Japanese schoolboy in southern China has sparked worry among Japanese expatriots living in China, while online comments from Chinese people show reactions ranging from shock to cynicism.
The 10-year-old boy, surnamed Shen, was stabbed by a 44-year-old man while the boy was on his way to class on the morning of September 18 near a Japanese school in the southern city of Shenzhen, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.
The child, whose father is Japanese and mother is Chinese, was a Japanese national, according to the ministry. He was taken to a hospital and later died of his injuries.
The boy was attending Shenzhen Japanese School, an international school built to serve the children of Japanese expatriots living in the region, an industrial hub where many Japanese firms, especially auto companies, set up factories decades ago. Only Japanese citizens are qualified to go to this school.
A Shenzhen local newspaper said the suspect, surnamed Zhong, acted alone and was arrested by police on site.
The same report said Zhong has confessed to stabbing the boy. Zhong, who has a previous criminal record, was released on bail by local police on suspicion of “damaging public telecommunications facilities” in 2015 and was detained on suspicion of “fabricating facts and disturbing public order” in 2019, according to the report.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed his condolences in a tweet on X, calling it “an extremely despicable crime,” and strongly urged China “to provide an explanation of the facts of the situation.”
The stabbing was the third high-profile attack on a foreigner in China in recent months.
In June, a Chinese man wounded a Japanese woman and her child in a stabbing attack in front of a school bus in the eastern city of Suzhou. The man also stabbed a Chinese bus attendant who tried to intervene, and the attendant later died of her injuries.
Also in June, four U.S. college instructors teaching in the northeastern city of Jilin were stabbed while visiting a public park. The American teachers suffered minor injuries and have since returned to the United States.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said these attacks are “isolated incidents” and said they would safeguard expatriots’ security in China.
However, the Chinese government is notoriously secretive about criminal investigations. Very little information has been published about the two attacks in June beyond the suspects’ last names and their employment status.
Nicholas Burns, the United States ambassador to China, criticized Beijing’s limited release of specifics and said that he was actively pressing for more details.
Japanese firms, especially auto companies with a presence in China, have warned their workers to stay vigilant.
Toshiba and Toyota have told their staff to take precautions against any possible violence. Panasonic is offering its employees free flights home. Mitsubishi and Nissan have communicated with their Japanese employees in China to ease their worries and offered counseling services.
Consequence of xenophobia propaganda
Meanwhile, Chinese people have shown contrasting reactions in their online comments about the latest stabbing incident.
Some expressed shock, sadness and anger. A few local residents in Shenzhen laid flowers and notes of apology to the deceased child outside the Japanese school.
A user called “sara jon” said on X, “Aren’t you heartbroken when you hear the boy’s mother cry. This is a terrorist attack, this is Hamas.” Another X user called “Jamy felando” said, “Poor child, hope he gets peace now and hope the devil goes to hell!”
On China’s X-like but censored social platform Weibo, many expressed cynicism and indifference, viewing the attack in light of atrocities committed during Japan’s invasion of China 80 years ago.
“The boomerang of the Japanese invaders finally came back to their own people,” wrote a Weibo user called yaxuefensitangtaijia. “If they had not invaded China and massacred the Chinese, perhaps there would be less extreme anti-Japanese sentiment today.”
Someone else said in agreement: “How many Chinese children died when Japan invaded China?”
It’s not clear if Zhong deliberately chose to commit his crime on September 18, a date considered by many Chinese as “national humiliation day.” The Japanese army officially launched its invasion of China on September 18, 1931, leading to a 14-year-long war and estimated casualties of 10 million military and civilians.
Some Chinese say long-lasting anti-Japan propaganda by the Chinese government led to the violence toward Japanese people. A user called “still typhoon” compared the propaganda to poison on Weibo: “The poison has backfired. Xenophobia and extreme nationalism are rampant online now.”
On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that “China and Japan reached a consensus” on the discharge of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant, bringing to an end a diplomatic dispute that had rumbled on for more than two years.
Beijing had been bashing Tokyo for causing “a major nuclear safety issue with cross-border implications,” when Tokyo started discharging treated radioactive water from the site in August 2023.
It also announced a blanket ban on all aquatic products from Japan. The anti-Japan sentiment reached a climax in August when official Chinese news media lashed out against Japan relentlessly.