Chinese Authorities Downplay Incidents of Foreigners Attacked in China in 2024

Chinese authorities inspect the scene of a stabbing at the Shenzhen Japanese School in Shenzhen, China, on Sept. 18, 2024. A 10-year-old Japanese student was attacked by a Chinese man. Kyodo News via AP

News Analysis

Random crimes of violence have been on the rise in China, with three high-profile incidents involving foreigners this year becoming diplomatic flashpoints.

Chinese regime authorities were quick to censor the incidents on social media and, in briefings with the international press, claimed these were isolated incidents, using no such term in domestic state-run media. 

Open questions remain as to the motives of attackers in these incidents.

4 Americans Stabbed

In June, four instructors from Iowa’s Cornell College on a teaching exchange program with Beihua University were stabbed in a public park in China’s northeast Jilin Province. Three of the instructors were U.S. citizens, and one was a noncitizen resident of Iowa.

While walking in Beishan Park to visit a temple, the four instructors were attacked by a middle-aged Chinese man. They were injured and hospitalized.

Rep. Adam Zabner (D-Iowa) identified one of the victims as his brother David Zabner and thanked federal officials for helping bring his brother home to the United States.

A foreign ministry spokesperson said the attack was a “random“ incident. Posts about the incident disappeared from Chinese social media, and the censorship did not escape the notice of Chinese netizens.

“Do they really think that censoring domestic discussion of the incident impacts whether foreigners choose to visit China or not?” posted one Weibo user.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping this year pledged to invite 50,000 young Americans to China for a study program to boost people-to-people ties as the U.S. State Department’s level 2 travel advisory to China warning of possible arbitrary detention and exit bans remains in place.

There are currently less than 900 American exchange students studying in China compared to more than 290,000 Chinese students in the United States, according to U.S. data.

Japanese Mother and Child Attacked, Good Samaritan Killed

Also in June, a Japanese mother and her child were attacked by a Chinese man with a knife while waiting at a bus stop, and the knife-wielding man killed a Good Samaritan who tried to intervene.

Chinese authorities said the incident was an “isolated” case when Japanese diplomats pressed for details. Experts noted that Chinese reports of the event did not include such a term.

The Japanese Consulate in Shanghai had disclosed at the time that another Japanese national was attacked in April and suffered neck injuries from a knife attack that occurred just a hundred meters from the June stabbing.

The incidents occurred near a Japanese school in Suzhou, a city just west of Shanghai. Suzhou is home to thousands of Japanese expats, and many Japanese companies in China have their headquarters there.

According to local media reports, when Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met with former Japanese lawmaker Yohei Kono on trade the following week, he said the incident must not be allowed to affect China–Japan relations.

Discussions about Chinese nationalistic sentiment and anti-Japanese sentiment broke out on Chinese social media after the attack, and Chinese internet companies cracked down.

Days after the incident, Tencent announced it removed 836 posts and 61 accounts promoting hate speech, Weibo announced it removed 759 posts and 36 accounts, and other Chinese platforms made similar announcements and post removals.

Japanese Boy Killed

In September, a 10-year-old Japanese boy was stabbed near a Japanese school in southern China and died in the hospital.

The incident occurred on the anniversary of a 1931 event during a period of war between Japan and China. The 918 Incident—in which a Japanese-owned railway track exploded in the northern Chinese city of Shenyang—marked the start of Japan’s invasion of China, which lasted until 1945, near the end of World War II.

The recent stabbings sparked renewed concerns about the impact of what the Chinese communist regime calls “patriotic education.”

A Chinese mother previously told The Epoch Times that in mainland China, students are exposed to “anti-Japanese education” as early as kindergarten. She chose to remain unnamed for fear of retribution.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa told reporters that Tokyo had requested to enhance safety before the anniversary, and expressed regret that an attack still occurred. Japanese diplomats called on Beijing to do more to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals and transparency in the investigation.

The attacker had been identified as a 44-year-old man at the time, and Chinese authorities again said the incident was isolated and that it had no relation to the earlier attack on a Japanese mother and child in June. Authorities also renewed orders to take down social media posts with hate speech targeting Japanese nationals.

Dorothy Li, Reuters, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.