Deadly attacks on Japanese in China inflame tenuous relations between the two nations

TAIPEI, Taiwan —  A deadly knife attack on a Japanese schoolboy in China has stoked frictions between the two countries and raised safety concerns at a time when China is trying to attract foreigners for work and travel.

The 10-year-old student was stabbed to death by a 44-year-old man outside the gates of a Japanese school in Shenzhen last week.

Chinese authorities have not revealed any motive for the attack.

Japanese officials are seeking more details from the investigation and raising concerns about the safety of their citizens there. There were 102,066 Japanese nationals living in China in 2022, according to government data, close to a 20-year-low.

“We strongly demand that the Chinese side explain the facts,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said last week, according to Japanese media. “I cannot help but feel deep sorrow. It was an extremely cowardly crime and a serious incident.”

Some Japanese companies, including Panasonic, have offered to move their China-based employees back home, according to media reports.

The Sept. 18 assault— which took place on the anniversary of Japan’s invasion of Manchuria, now northeastern China— follows a similar one in June, in which a man in his 50s attacked a Japanese woman and her preschooler with a knife as they waited for a school bus in the eastern city of Suzhou. A Chinese woman who intervened to stop the assailant from getting on the bus later died from her injuries.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has described both knife attacks as “isolated incidents.” But the acts of aggression have aggravated growing mistrust between Japan and China, which have clashed on issues including regional defense and a controversial plan to release treated wastewater from Japan’s decommissioned nuclear plant in Fukushima last year.

On Monday, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa met with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in New York and said she had urged China to ensure the safety of Japanese citizens in the country. Japan plans to spend about $300,000 to improve security at Japanese schools there.

Kamikawa also called on Beijing to crack down on anti-Japanese sentiment online.

Major Chinese tech companies have announced efforts to tamp down inflammatory rhetoric on social media platforms. On Saturday, after the latest attack, the popular short-video app Kuaishou — similar to TikTok — said it banned or suspended about 90 accounts for spreading hate speech.

On Tuesday, there was heated discussion about the tensions on the X-like microblogging app Weibo. One certified account with 3 million followers pointed the finger at Japan for increased hostility toward Chinese people: “According to polls, in recent years, up to 93% of the Japanese public express a dislike for China. So, who exactly is playing the ‘hate education’ game?”

An annual government survey conducted last fall showed that 86.7% of Japanese “do not feel friendly” toward China, a record high going back to 1978, Kyodo News reported.

Fears of detention and public ire have deterred foreigners, including Japanese citizens, from returning to China after the COVID-19 pandemic, despite government efforts to project an open and friendly image. Four instructors from the U.S. were also stabbed in June during a visit to China’s northeastern Jilin province.

Tomoko Ako, a professor in China studies at the University of Tokyo, was doubtful that increased oversight of online discussion would reassure foreigners of their safety in China. She said that her university is considering canceling a regular exchange program for her Chinese-language class.

“Fewer and fewer people have been signing up in recent years, ” she said. “Many students are afraid.”

In a Monday statement, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong said the two governments were working toward a constructive and stable relationship and expressed his regret over the death of the Japanese schoolchild.

“China upholds the rule of law, and China has and will continue taking effective measures to protect the safety of all foreigners in China,” the release said.

Wu is a Times special correspondent.