Chinese Man Sentenced to Death for Knife Attack on Japanese Nationals

A court in Suzhou, China, has sentenced a 52-year-old man, surnamed Zhou, to death for a knife attack that injured a Japanese woman and her child and killed a bus attendant. The attack occurred in June last year when the Japanese mother was picking up her child near a Japanese school. The mother and child sustained non-life-threatening injuries, but the bus attendant died from her wounds.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi, expressed the Japanese government's serious stance on the incident, emphasizing the unforgivable nature of the attack. Japan's Consul General to Shanghai attended the sentencing, although details of the ruling were not publicly available.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning did not confirm the sentencing but stated that Chinese judicial authorities would handle the case according to the law. The attack was one of two incidents involving Japanese nationals last year, raising concerns about anti-Japanese sentiment in China.

Knife attacks are not uncommon in China due to strict gun control, and there has been a rise in random acts of violence targeting the public. The Japanese government has urged China to ensure the safety of its citizens.