Attacks raise concerns about xenophobic sentiments

The Star

2 days ago

A Japanese woman living in China was attacked and injured by a man in a Suzhou subway station, Japanese media outlets said, hours after two Chinese men were seriously injured in violence in Tokyo.
The attacks on Thursday raised concern about xenophobic sentiment in both 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.
The 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 getting treated at a hospital, NHK reported.
A phone call to the Suzhou police went unanswered on Friday evening and the local police had yet to release any official statement.
But the Japanese news agency Kyodo 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'. — AP