BEIJING: China’s foreign ministry on Friday (Jun 28) expressed condolences over the death of a woman who tried to block a knifeman after he attacked two people at a bus stop outside a Japanese school in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou.
A man stabbed a Japanese woman and her child at a bus stop on Monday in Suzhou, a tech centre and historic canal city about an hour’s drive from Shanghai. A spokesperson for the Japanese embassy confirmed the attack.
The suspect has been detained and an investigation is ongoing, the spokesperson said, adding that the motive is unknown.
While the two Japanese people sustained minor injuries and were discharged from the hospital on the day of the attack, Chinese national Hu Youping was gravely injured after she intervened to stop the assailant from getting on the bus that was run by the Japanese school and died on Friday.
“We mourn over the unfortunate passing of Ms Hu Youping and extend our sympathies to her families,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily news briefing in Beijing on Friday.
She added that the city of Suzhou would award her the title of “role model of righteousness and courage”.
The Japanese embassy in China also lowered its flag to half-mast to honour her.
In an email sent to Japanese people living in China following the attack, the Japanese embassy warned its nationals to take precautions as stabbing incidents have occurred in various parts of China in public places, including parks, schools and subways.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-mourns-death-woman-who-tried-stop-knifeman-after-attack-japanese-family-suzhou-4434841
