BEIJING (AFP) – China’s top diplomat Wang Yi told his Japanese counterpart that he hoped Tokyo would handle the fatal stabbing of a schoolboy in the southern city of Shenzhen “calmly and rationally”, China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
After the attack last week in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida demanded an explanation and urged China to ensure the safety of Japanese citizens.
Japanese media has reported that the boy was a 10-year-old Japanese national living in Shenzhen, while Beijing’s foreign ministry said his parents were Japanese and Chinese citizens.
While it remains unclear if the attack was politically motivated, it happened on September 18, the anniversary of the 1931 “Mukden incident” or “Manchurian incident”, which is known in China as a day of national humiliation.
Meeting in New York, Wang told his Japanese counterpart Yoko Kamikawa: “China will investigate and handle the individual case of the attack on a Japanese pupil in Shenzhen in accordance with the law,” according to the Chinese foreign ministry.
“Japan should view this calmly and rationally and avoid politicising or escalating the issue,” Wang said.
Beijing “will as always safeguard the safety of all foreign citizens in China”, he said.
