Latest news with #ZhouJiasheng
Kyodo News
15 hours ago
- Kyodo News
Number of Japanese school students in China down over 10%
KYODO NEWS - 8 hours ago - 15:33 | World, All, Japan The number of students enrolled in Japanese schools in China declined over 10 percent in the academic year starting April from a year earlier, as Tuesday marked the first anniversary of a knife attack near Shanghai in which Japanese nationals were injured. According to data compiled by Tokyo-based Japan Overseas Educational Services and others, the number of students at the 11 Japanese schools in mainland China nosedived in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic before a recovery trend began in the following year. However, the 2025 school year saw a decrease in the number of students amid an economic slump in China and safety concerns shared by Japanese expatriate communities after the knife attack in Suzhou in June last year and a fatal stabbing of a 10-year-old Japanese boy in Shenzhen, southern China, in September. On June 24 last year, a 52-year-old unemployed Chinese man named Zhou Jiasheng stabbed a Japanese mother and her child and killed Chinese bus attendant Hu Youping, 54, who came to their assistance at a Japanese school bus stop in the Jiangsu Province city. Zhou was later convicted and executed earlier this year. Local authorities and the Japanese school in Suzhou have stepped up security measures since the stabbing, with several security officials deployed at the educational institution, aboard school buses and at the bus stop. "We feel safe with the presence of the security officials, but cannot let our guard down," a mother of a Japanese school student said. "I always tell my child to be vigilant and run away if a suspicious person is spotted nearby." "If children face danger again, I will let my family return to Japan as soon as possible," a father of a student said. As this year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of what Beijing calls the 1937-1945 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, it is feared public sentiment toward Japanese nationals in China could worsen. A mother of a student at the Suzhou Japanese school was wary of Japanese children in China being at risk again, with a new movie featuring the Imperial Japanese Army's notorious Unit 731 scheduled to be released on July 31. The unit undertook biological and chemical warfare research in northeastern China during World War II, according to historians. Related coverage: China school bus stop murderer executed: Japanese gov't Japanese schoolboy killer in China executed: source
The Mainichi
20 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Number of Japanese school students in China down over 10%
SUZHOU, China (Kyodo) -- The number of students enrolled in Japanese schools in China declined over 10 percent in the academic year starting April from a year earlier, as Tuesday marked the first anniversary of a knife attack near Shanghai in which Japanese nationals were injured. According to data compiled by Tokyo-based Japan Overseas Educational Services and others, the number of students at the 11 Japanese schools in mainland China nosedived in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic before a recovery trend began in the following year. However, the 2025 school year saw a decrease in the number of students amid an economic slump in China and safety concerns shared by Japanese expatriate communities after the knife attack in Suzhou in June last year and a fatal stabbing of a 10-year-old Japanese boy in Shenzhen, southern China, in September. On June 24 last year, a 52-year-old unemployed Chinese man named Zhou Jiasheng stabbed a Japanese mother and her child and killed Chinese bus attendant Hu Youping, 54, who came to their assistance at a Japanese school bus stop in the Jiangsu Province city. Zhou was later convicted and executed earlier this year. Local authorities and the Japanese school in Suzhou have stepped up security measures since the stabbing, with several security officials deployed at the educational institution, aboard school buses and at the bus stop. "We feel safe with the presence of the security officials, but cannot let our guard down," a mother of a Japanese school student said. "I always tell my child to be vigilant and run away if a suspicious person is spotted nearby." "If children face danger again, I will let my family return to Japan as soon as possible," a father of a student said. As this year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of what Beijing calls the 1937-1945 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, it is feared public sentiment toward Japanese nationals in China could worsen. A mother of a student at the Suzhou Japanese school was wary of Japanese children in China being at risk again, with a new movie featuring the Imperial Japanese Army's notorious Unit 731 scheduled to be released on July 31. The unit undertook biological and chemical warfare research in northeastern China during World War II, according to historians.
Kyodo News
a day ago
- Kyodo News
Number of Japanese school students in China down over 10%
KYODO NEWS - 11 minutes ago - 15:33 | World, All, Japan The number of students enrolled in Japanese schools in China declined over 10 percent in the academic year starting April from a year earlier, as Tuesday marked the first anniversary of a knife attack near Shanghai in which Japanese nationals were injured. According to data compiled by Tokyo-based Japan Overseas Educational Services and others, the number of students at the 11 Japanese schools in mainland China nosedived in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic before a recovery trend began in the following year. However, the 2025 school year saw a decrease in the number of students amid an economic slump in China and safety concerns shared by Japanese expatriate communities after the knife attack in Suzhou in June last year and a fatal stabbing of a 10-year-old Japanese boy in Shenzhen, southern China, in September. On June 24 last year, a 52-year-old unemployed Chinese man named Zhou Jiasheng stabbed a Japanese mother and her child and killed Chinese bus attendant Hu Youping, 54, who came to their assistance at a Japanese school bus stop in the Jiangsu Province city. Zhou was later convicted and executed earlier this year. Local authorities and the Japanese school in Suzhou have stepped up security measures since the stabbing, with several security officials deployed at the educational institution, aboard school buses and at the bus stop. "We feel safe with the presence of the security officials, but cannot let our guard down," a mother of a Japanese school student said. "I always tell my child to be vigilant and run away if a suspicious person is spotted nearby." "If children face danger again, I will let my family return to Japan as soon as possible," a father of a student said. As this year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of what Beijing calls the 1937-1945 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, it is feared public sentiment toward Japanese nationals in China could worsen. A mother of a student at the Suzhou Japanese school was wary of Japanese children in China being at risk again, with a new movie featuring the Imperial Japanese Army's notorious Unit 731 scheduled to be released on July 31. The unit undertook biological and chemical warfare research in northeastern China during World War II, according to historians. Related coverage: China school bus stop murderer executed: Japanese gov't Japanese schoolboy killer in China executed: source
The Independent
18-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
China executes man for fatal stabbing near Japanese school
China has reportedly executed a man convicted of killing a Chinese woman and injuring two Japanese nationals in a knife attack at a school bus stop near Shanghai last year. Zhou Jiasheng, a 52-year-old man, allegedly struggling with heavy debt and despair, targeted the Japanese mother and her son as they waited for the school bus near the Japanese School of Suzhou in Jiangsu province on 24 June 2024. The mother and son sustained minor injuries, but the bus attendant, Hu Youping, 54, who stepped in to protect them, succumbed to her stabbing injuries a few days after the incident. Zhou, who said he went on a stabbing spree because he 'didn't want to live anymore', was sentenced to death in January. The Chinese foreign ministry on Wednesday told the Japanese embassy in Beijing that the accused had been executed, without sharing further details. Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Hayashi Yoshimasa, said the government solemnly noted the execution of the Chinese national. He said the incident was 'totally unforgivable', according to NHK World. Mr Hayashi added that Japan will continue to take steps to protect Japanese people living in China, and 'we will continue to strongly ask China to ensure the safety of Japanese people in China'. The case was one of two knife attacks targeting Japanese nationals in China last year. In September, a 10-year-old Japanese student was fatally stabbed near his school in Shenzhen. The trial of the alleged perpetrator in that case has only just begun. The incidents heightened fears of growing anti-Japanese sentiment in China. Following the Suzhou attack, Japanese officials had urged Beijing to ensure the safety of its citizens. The Chinese government described the incidents as isolated, while technology companies, including Tencent and NetEase, vowed to curb online hate speech to prevent further violence. The incident in Suzhou also drew attention to a wider problem of the rise in violent attacks across China. In January, China executed two men who had carried out deadly attacks in November that killed dozens, in what are known as 'revenge-on-society' crimes. Chinese authorities executed Fan Weiqu, a 62-year-old man who rammed his car into a crowd outside a sports stadium in the southern city of Zhuhai, killing at least 35 people. Xu Jiajin, 21, was executed for killing eight people and injuring 17 in a stabbing attack at his vocational school in the eastern city of Wuxi.
Japan Times
17-04-2025
- Japan Times
China executes man over Japanese school bus stop murder
A man sentenced to death in China over an attack on two Japanese people that left a Chinese woman dead has been executed, people familiar with relations between Japan and China said Thursday. The Chinese Foreign Ministry informed the Japanese Embassy in China of the execution on Wednesday. The specific date and time of the execution remain unknown. Zhou Jiasheng was convicted of intentional murder over the incident last June, in which he attacked with a knife a Japanese woman and her child waiting at a bus stop for a Japanese school in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province in eastern China. The two Japanese were injured, while a female Chinese bus guide was killed after trying to aid them. A Chinese district court handed down the capital punishment on Jan. 23, finding that Zhou attacked the three people because he was tired of living in debt. But it did not clarify whether the man had targeted Japanese people specifically. Zhou did not appeal the ruling. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday, "The crime is absolutely unforgivable, and we take the execution of the sentence seriously."
