A Japanese woman living in China was attacked and injured by a man in a subway station in Suzhou, China, Japanese media said, hours after two Chinese men were seriously injured in violence in Tokyo.
The attacks on Thursday raised concern about xenophobic sentiment in China and Japan that have been blamed for assaults in both countries.
It was the third attack involving Japanese living in China since last year. In the two previous cases in China, Chinese authorities have insisted they were isolated incidents.
Photo: Kyodo News via AP
Japanese broadcaster NHK did not identify the woman injured in Suzhou by name, but, citing the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai, said she was with her child inside a subway station when the attack took place.
The child was not injured, and the mother had returned home after reportedly being treated at a hospital, NHK reported.
A phone call to the Suzhou police went unanswered on Friday evening, and the local police were yet to release any official statement, but the Kyodo news agency said the suspect had been detained.
In Tokyo earlier on Thursday, two Chinese men were seriously injured in attacks, and four male assailants wielding unspecified weapons remained at large, according to a statement released by the Chinese embassy in Japan. The identities of the assailants were unclear.
The Chinese embassy urged the Japanese authorities to take action to catch the assailants in the Tokyo attack and to ensure the safety and legal rights of Chinese citizens in Japan “in response to the recent surge in xenophobic sentiment in Japanese society.”
In southern China in September last year, a 10-year-old Japanese student died after being stabbed by a Chinese man not far from the gate of the Shenzhen Japanese School in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. The man was sentenced to death.
In June last year, a Japanese woman and her child were injured in an attack by a Chinese man, also in Suzhou. A Chinese bus attendant who tried to protect them from the attack was killed. The man was sentenced to death.
On Friday, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China called for Chinese authorities to ensure Japanese citizens’ safety and security in China.
“It is extremely regrettable that such an incident has happened again. Ensuring the safety of employees and their families is fundamental for doing business in China,” the chamber’s statement said.
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
RSS