- China sentences man to death for knife attack on school bus
- Japanese woman and child injured, Chinese woman killed after intervening to protect them
- Zhou Jiasheng, 52, says losing his job and accumulating debt was the reason behind the crime
- China has seen a rise in public acts of violence
China sentences man to death for knife attack on school bus
A Chinese court has sentenced Zhou Jiasheng, 52, to death for a knife attack that injured a Japanese mother and her child and claimed the life of a Chinese woman who intervened to protect them. The attack occurred on June 24 outside a Japanese school in Suzhou and was one of three attacks targeting foreigners in China last year.
Zhou, reportedly driven by despair after losing his job and accumulating debts, was convicted of intentional murder. The court cited the “significant social impact” of the crime in its ruling, according to Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi. Officials from the Japanese consulate in Shanghai attended the sentencing.
Hayashi condemned the attack as “absolutely unforgivable” and honoured Hu Youping, the bus attendant killed while protecting the victims. The incident, along with a separate stabbing that killed a Japanese boy in Shenzhen last year, has raised concerns within the Japanese community in China.
China has seen a rise in public acts of violence, with 19 attacks targeting pedestrians or strangers last year, a marked increase from previous years. Many of these incidents have been attributed to individuals seeking revenge on society due to personal grievances.