4 U.S. instructors at Chinese university stabbed in park; man arrested

BEIJING (Reuters) -- Four American instructors from a small Iowa university were injured in a stabbing attack in a public park in northeast China's Jilin province on Monday, according to Chinese and U.S. government officials.

Local police said the incident occurred shortly before noon on Monday at a park in Jilin city and that the suspect, a 55-year-old local man surnamed Cui, was detained the same day.

"Cui collided into a foreigner while walking in Beishan Park, and then stabbed the foreigner and three fellow foreigners with a knife, as well as a Chinese tourist who tried to stop him," Jilin city police said in a social media statement, adding that the victims' injuries were "not life-threatening."

No further motive for the attack was disclosed in the statement.

China's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said the incident was a random attack and that it would "not affect normal people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States."

Adam Zabner, a representative in Iowa's state legislature, told Reuters his brother was one of the victims from Cornell College in Iowa.

"My brother, David Zabner, was wounded in the arm during a stabbing attack while visiting a temple in Jilin city, China," he said. "I spoke to David ... He is recovering from his injuries and doing well. My family is incredibly grateful that David survived this attack."

The group had been visiting a temple in Beishan Park when they were attacked by a man with a knife, he added.

"The police have preliminarily judged that this was a random incident but an investigation is ongoing," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters at a daily briefing on Tuesday. "All the injured individuals were immediately taken to the hospital and were given