Horrific Murder of Japanese Boy in China Signals Rising Xenophobia and Social Instability

On September 18, a 10-year-old Japanese schoolboy was stabbed on his way to school in Shenzhen, southern China. The assailant, a 44-year-old man, was arrested at the scene. The schoolboy succumbed to his injuries the following day. The murder has left the entire Japanese community in China in shock. With the Chinese government not revealing the motive of the assailant, anxiety is spreading among Japanese living in various parts of China.

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"It's such a tragedy."

The head of a Japanese company with operations in Shenzhen did not hide his sadness and indignation over the attack. Anxiety is spreading especially among employees based in China who have brought their children to live with them there. And the feeling is not just limited to Shenzhen.

Just this June there was another incident in the city of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. A knife-wielding man attacked a Japanese mother and child who had been waiting for a school bus.

The degree of trauma caused by these multiple attacks on Japanese children in a brief period of time is immeasurable.

Shenzhen is an economic center next to Hong Kong, and it has been thought of as a city with a close relationship with foreigners. That has added to the shock from the latest attack.

The fact that the Chinese authorities have not released details concerning the attack, including the motive of the suspect, has further added to the unease among resident Japanese. Major Chinese media outlets have only included a few, barebones accounts of the incident. Not many Chinese have even learned that such an incident occurred in Shenzhen.

That led a man whose child attends a Japanese school in Beijing to say, "It's difficult to take [protective] measures because there is no information available."

*The scene where the Japanese schoolboy was attacked. September 18, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China. (©Kyodo)*

Series of Attacks on Foreigners

Recently, there has been a series of attacks on foreigners in China. Just two weeks before the June incident in Suzhou, four American teachers were stabbed and injured in a public park. They were from Cornell College and were teaching at a partner university in the city of Jilin in northeastern China.

The Chinese government continues to emphasize that these are all "isolated incidents," while evading providing more details.

During the Suzhou incident, a Chinese woman tried to stop the Chinese man from attacking the Japanese mother and child. The woman herself was stabbed and died from her wounds. She was later lauded as a hero and extolled in official propaganda. However, no effective countermeasures were taken to deal with the problem.

Social Instability

Currently, there are concerns about social stability in China. The deep slump in the property market and sluggish economic growth have combined to cause deterioration in the employment and income environment for regular citizens.

This environment has contributed to a mood in which it is easier for the Chinese to direct their frustrations against foreigners. That was especially true around September 18. This year, 2024, marks the 93rd anniversary of the Mukden incident of 1931.

It saw the official media constantly repeating "Resist Japan" historical narratives. And on Chinese social media, posts of anti-Japanese slogans like "Down with Japan!" were widespread.

In the wake of the Shenzhen incident, initially, there were quite a few posts on social media criticizing the suspect. People were saying things like, "This is the real humiliation for our nation."

But on the other hand, people have posted videos expressing doubts about the Japanese schools throughout China. Some asked, "Why are there Japanese schools in various parts of China? What is the real story behind their existence?"

Impact on Relations

In China, the authorities control which posts are removed or allowed to remain on social media. This means they have clearly chosen to let many of these provocative videos remain without objection.

At the same time, with the Chinese economy currently in such poor shape, the Chinese government has been eager to attract more foreign investment.

But a Japanese diplomat points out: "It is natural for Japanese companies to conclude that they cannot engage in such things as investment under these conditions."

He added, "The Chinese government needs to recognize that this is an issue that goes to the very core of Japan-China relations and respond accordingly."