The Japanese Consul-General in Shanghai has strongly requested the mayor of a Chinese city share details about a violent attack in which two Japanese citizens were wounded.
Consul-General Okada Masaru spoke on Friday with Mayor Wu Qingwen, the number two official of the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou. The Japanese diplomat requested information on a school bus attack in the city in June.
Japanese people have been killed or injured in a series of recent incidents in China.
In June, a Japanese woman and her child were wounded when a knife-wielding man targeted people at a bus stop for a Japanese school in Suzhou.
A female Chinese bus attendant who tried to stop the attack was killed.
In September, another knife-wielding man stabbed a Japanese boy on his way to a Japanese school in Shenzhen. The boy died of his injuries.
Okada said the safety of Japanese living in China is the most crucial foundation for all exchanges between Japan and China, including economic ties.
He urged Wu to ensure the safety of Japanese in the city and provide more information on the June attack, including the background to the crime.
Wu told Okada the city government considers the bus attack an “isolated incident,” and that the city would share any developments in its investigation.
The two cases in Suzhou and Shenzhen have prompted Japanese schools across China to step up security in cooperation with local governments.
But safety concerns persist among Japanese citizens in China, as Chinese authorities have not revealed details about either attack, including the assailants’ motives.