SUZHOU, China – A Japanese national was assaulted at a subway station in Suzhou, eastern China and taken to the hospital, the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai said Friday.
The Thursday evening incident occurred in Suzhou, the same city in Jiangsu Province where a Japanese mother and child were injured and a Chinese woman was killed in a knife attack in June last year.
A woman was walking with her child when she was struck with a stone-like object, sustaining a non-life-threatening injury, according to a source familiar with Sino-Japanese relations.
The suspect remains at large, and local authorities are investigating, according to the consulate general.
With this year marking the 80th anniversary of what China calls its victory in the 1937-1945 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese Embassy in Beijing has warned citizens of rising anti-Japan sentiment.
Following the latest attack, the Japanese government urged China to swiftly apprehend the suspect, prevent similar incidents and ensure the safety of Japanese nationals, it added.
The consulate general also asked Japanese expatriates in China to be vigilant about suspicious people when they go out.
The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China said in a statement Friday that it is “extremely regrettable” that the latest incident occurred following the knife attack in Suzhou and the fatal stabbing of a 10-year-old Japanese boy in Shenzhen in September.
