Beijing ¨C An ¡°unknown assailant¡± attacked and wounded a Japanese national accompanied by a child in the Chinese city of Suzhou, Tokyo¡¯s Embassy said Friday, calling on Beijing to prevent such incidents.
According to Japan-China diplomatic sources, the victim was a woman. Local authorities have detained the suspected attacker, but the motive and other details of the incident remain unclear.
The incident comes a year after a Japanese mother and child were wounded in a knife attack in the same city. A Chinese woman died trying to stop the assailant.
In Thursday¡¯s attack, ¡°a Japanese national walking with a child was struck by what appeared to be a rock by an unknown assailant inside a Suzhou, Jiangsu province subway station,¡± Tokyo¡¯s Embassy in Beijing said in a statement.
A spokesperson for China¡¯s Foreign Ministry said that ¡°the suspect has been apprehended.¡± The victim was ¡°promptly taken to hospital for treatment, and there is no threat to life.¡±
China and Japan are key trading partners, but increased friction over territorial rivalries and military spending has frayed ties in recent years.
Japan¡¯s brutal occupation of parts of China before and during World War II remains a sore point, with Beijing accusing Tokyo of failing to atone for its past.
In June last year, a Japanese mother and child were attacked in Suzhou on the anniversary of the 1931 Mukden incident, known in China as a day of national humiliation.
The 1931 explosion of a railway in China was used by Japanese soldiers as a pretext to occupy the city of Mukden, now called Shenyang, and invade the wider region of Manchuria.
And in September, a Japanese schoolboy was fatally stabbed in the southern city of Shenzhen.
Media reports about the latest attack in Suzhou were censored on the Chinese messaging app WeChat.
¡°The Japanese government has urged the Chinese government to... severely punish the suspect, prevent similar incidents, and ensure the safety of Japanese nationals,¡± Tokyo¡¯s Embassy said Friday.
Beijing¡¯s Foreign Ministry said ¡°China will continue to take effective steps, to protect the safety of foreigners in China.¡±
Thursday¡¯s incident occurred at a time when anti-Japanese sentiment is seen as rising in China, fueled by recent films and dramas themed on the past war against Japan.
To celebrate the 80th anniversary of China¡¯s victory in the war, a military parade is scheduled to be held in Beijing in September.
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