Japan asks China to ensure the safety of Japanese citizens after a schoolboy was fatally stabbed

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s top diplomat asked China to ensure the safety of Japanese citizens there after the fatal stabbing of a Japanese schoolboy, and demanded a crackdown on what she called “groundless, malicious and anti-Japanese” social media posts that threaten children’s safety.

Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa requested her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, conduct a full investigation into the stabbing and provide a clear explanation to Japan about what happened, and to punish the suspect and implement preventive measures for the future.

Kamikawa said Beijing should take concrete steps to ensure safety of Japanese residents, especially children, in China, according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry. The two ministers met in New York on Monday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting.

The 10-year-old boy was stabbed on Sept. 18 near the gate of the Shenzhen Japanese School. The attacker, identified as a 44-year-old man, was arrested on the spot and is being investigated, according to Chinese officials. No motive for the attack was immediately clear.

Kamikawa has said the attack occurred despite Tokyo’s request to Beijing for increased security for Japanese citizens and around Japanese schools ahead of the Sept. 18 anniversary of the Mukden Incident in 1931, which China marks as the beginning of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, now northeast China.

Kamikawa also told Wang that “groundless, malicious and anti-Japanese social media postings and others, including those targeting Japanese schools, directly affect the safety of children and are absolutely unacceptable,” demanding China a thorough crackdown as soon as possible, according to a ministry statement.

Wang said the stabbing was an “accidental,