Japanese students fear for their safety in China after a knife attack

The killing of a student in China has heightened concerns about the safety of Japanese people in the country, which scientists say will affect student mobility.

A Japanese child was fatally stabbed in Shenzhen earlier this month. While the motive for the attack was unclear, the stabbing occurred near the 10-year-old’s Japanese school, raising concerns about increasing negativity toward foreigners in China.

This was the second attack near a Japanese school in recent months and follows another high-profile incident involving a Japanese citizen in China: the detention of a businessman in Beijing last year on suspicion of espionage.

“China’s economy continues to deteriorate, and people who struggle to make ends meet and have low levels of education are easily influenced by the Chinese government’s propaganda against so-called hostile foreign forces and the associated fake information on social media media influence,” he said Tomoko Ako, a professor of Chinese studies at the University of Tokyo.

“Those who want to make a profit on social media make fun of the problems of the Japanese people and the Japanese government, which makes people feel even more hatred against Japan.”

In China, anti-Japanese sentiment dates back to the Sino-Japanese Wars, which began in the late 19th century and culminated in the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. The knife attack on the student on September 18th coincided with the anniversary of the invasion of Manchuria. now in northeast China.

Historically, academic mobility between the two countries has been relatively unbalanced, with Japan hosting significant numbers of Chinese students. However, in recent years there have been signs of growing interest in China among Japanese students and academics.

China also wants to encourage more Japanese citizens to study in China. The education ministers of both countries – and those of their counterpart in South Korea – agreed in June to work together to promote educational exchanges between the three countries.

In 2018, Japanese students formed the ninth largest international student cohort in China by nationality, with more than 14,000 in the country. In comparison, according to the Chinese government, there were 50,000 South Koreans.

However, Utpal Vyas, associate professor at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, predicted that this decline could recede. “Japanese students … are becoming less and less interested in going abroad for economic reasons, and media coverage of these incidents in China makes the country even less attractive as a study or visit destination,” he said.

Some US universities are also reviewing their positions on exchanges with China amid cooling relations with the superpower. Ivy League Dartmouth College announced it sent a cohort of students to Beijing to study China this summer for the first time since the pandemic. However, others, such as Duke University, have suspended similar programs.

The incidents are less likely for Japanese academics, said Dr. Vyas said as most were aware of the risks of traveling to China after years of difficult relations between the two countries, Dr Vyas said. Vyas.

However, there is also concern in the academic community about the disappearance of Chinese academics working at Japanese universities, several of whom have disappeared during return visits to China. It was recently announced that a professor who was arrested on a trip to China in 2019 was sentenced to six years in prison on espionage charges.

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