Shenzhen Japanese boy incident: tragedy must not be used for political purposes

A tragic incident occurred in Shenzhen, China, where a 10-year-old boy was stabbed to death on his way to school. The boy’s father is Japanese, his mother is Chinese, and he himself is a Japanese citizen, attending a Japanese school in Shenzhen. This incident has attracted widespread attention from the Japanese government, media and public, and the Chinese side has also demanded an explanation.

First, let’s review this incident and see how the Chinese side responded. According to the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau, the boy was attacked at 7:55 am on the 18th Beijing time. After receiving the report, the police immediately rushed to the scene and arrested the perpetrator on the spot. The ambulance of the Shenzhen Emergency Center arrived at the scene at 8:05 am, and 10 minutes after the incident, the injured boy was sent to the hospital at 8:15 am. At the hospital, a life-saving team was immediately formed, led by the director of Shenzhen Children’s Hospital, and experts from many well-known hospitals such as Shenzhen People’s Hospital, Shenzhen Hospital, University of Hong Kong, and Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center rushed to the scene for treatment. In addition, after the incident, the Shenzhen Education Department immediately established an emergency response system and sent a professional psychological counseling team to provide mental health care for students and teachers at the school at any time. Unfortunately, the boy died the next day.

According to the police, the suspect is a 44-year-old unemployed man with a criminal record, including damaging public telecommunications facilities and disturbing public order. The crime was committed alone, and the motive for the crime is being thoroughly investigated. Since the incident, the Shenzhen Police, the Medical Department, and the Education Department have responded quickly and proactively. In recent days, many Shenzhen citizens have voluntarily gone to the scene of the crime to lay flowers and pray for the soul of the deceased boy to rest in peace. Shenzhen is the first city in China to open to the outside world, and there is a slogan: “Everyone who comes to Shenzhen is a Shenzhener (come, you are a Shenzhener). A lady who came to lay flowers said with tears in her eyes: “No matter what nationality this child is, he studies and lives in Shenzhen, so this child is a child of Shenzhen.

Children of any country should not be harmed. Most Chinese people strongly condemn this heinous incident and firmly oppose the use of violence against innocent human beings. Even in peacetime, the world we live in is not necessarily safe. In the past, Chinese people have been attacked or killed in other countries, including Japan. Every country has bad people with radical ideas. China, with a population of 1.4 billion, is no exception. The Chinese government has also always been committed to managing public order, cracking down on illegal activities, and working hard to ensure the safety of its citizens and all foreigners in China.

China is a country ruled by law and one of the safest countries in the world. This sense of security and safety is not only felt by the Chinese, but also by many foreigners who study, live, work and travel in China.

In fact, on the evening of September 18, the same day the boy was attacked in Shenzhen, a 22-year-old Japanese man died in a car accident involving US military personnel in Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture. According to Japanese police, a passenger car carrying several US military men and women forced a right turn at an intersection where right turns were prohibited. A young Japanese man driving a motorcycle was hit and was confirmed dead at the hospital where he was taken. The news received more than 20 comments on Yahoo Japan.

I was taught from a young age that “China and Japan are neighbors with water”, “eternal friendship” and “look to history as an eye to the future”. As a Chinese, I want to convey that there are many beautiful stories between China and Japan. Sometimes, even if there are discordant and unfriendly voices, it will not interfere with the normal interaction between neighboring countries. It is precisely when we are confused that we should sort out the pros and cons, not be confused by extreme ideas, and maintain the essence of Sino-Japanese exchanges.