Tokyo Demands China Stem Anti-Japan Hate After Fatal Attack
(Bloomberg) -- Senior Japanese officials told their Chinese counterparts to provide a full explanation of the recent stabbing death of a Japanese boy in southern China and deal with “untruthful and malicious” internet posts targeting Japan, as Tokyo stepped up pressure on Beijing to respond to the incident.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Eric Adams' Vanishing Promise to Fix NYC's 'Unfair' Property Taxes
Belfast’s Grand Central Station Creates New Era for Northern Ireland’s Public Transport
In a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in New York on Monday, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said China must take steps to protect Japanese nationals within its borders, according to a statement from the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
Kamikawa also requested that China thoroughly deal with social media posts including those referring to Japanese schools in China. The meeting followed a similar exchange between Japanese State Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoshifumi Tsuge and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong in Beijing.
During the meeting of foreign ministers, Wang urged Japan to view the stabbing of schoolboy in Shenzhen calmly and rationally, according to a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry
Last week, a 10-year-old boy died after being stabbed while on his way to school in the southern city of Shenzhen. So far, the Chinese authorities haven’t offered any explanation of the motives of the attacker, who was arrested at the scene.
The diplomatic exchanges laid bare the divisions between the neighbors amid concerns in Japan that China’s history of anti-Japan rhetoric has prompted attacks on Japanese people.
Ties between the neighbors were already tense due to historical resentments, a territorial dispute and other issues including Japan’s release of wastewater from a destroyed nuclear power plant. The attack came on the anniversary of the start of Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in 1931 — a day China remembers by blaring sirens in cities across the nation.
The incident added to a series of assaults on foreigners in China in recent months, and was at least the second to target Japanese nationals. In June, a Japanese woman and her child were attacked with a knife in the eastern city of Suzhou. A Chinese bus attendant was killed in that incident.
On Monday afternoon, the Chinese foreign ministry said the country doesn’t teach its people to hate Japan.
“There is no so-called Japan-hating education in China,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press briefing in Beijing. “We advocate learning from history, not to perpetuate hatred, but to prevent the tragedy of war from happening again.”
The Japanese government formally protested the attack and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed his condolences over the boy’s death and repeated the request that China provide more information. Lin avoided commenting on the attacker’s motive on Monday, saying police were still investigating.
Lin also said that in the meeting between Sun and Tsuge, both sides agreed to handle the child’s killing “properly and calmly, and agreed to maintain communication to avoid occasional incidents that may affect bilateral relations.”
--With assistance from Charlie Zhu, Li Liu and Philip Glamann.
(Updates with meeting between foreign ministers in New York and Chinese statement)
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
Palantir’s CEO and Wall Street Annoy Each Other Straight to the Bank
Five Reasons to Be Optimistic About the Entertainment Business
Threats to Local US Election Officials Are Rising, and More Workers Are Quitting
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
