Wednesday’s fatal stabbing of a Japanese fifth-grader as he walked to his school in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen—just months after a similar fatal stabbing at a Japanese school bus-stop in Suzhou—has prompted an outpouring of Chinese-language articles and commentary reflecting on the role of nationalist propaganda, “patriotic education,” and xenophobic online sentiment in fueling such attacks. There has also been extensive censorship of such articles on Chinese social media, as well as widespread comment deletion under posts about the stabbing. Many commenters have expressed shame that such a violent attack on a child could occur in Shenzhen, the cradle of Deng Xiaoping’s policy of “reform and opening,” generally considered to be one of China’s most open, progressive, and cosmopolitan cities. Hundreds of Shenzhen residents have left condolence messages and flowers at the gate of the Japanese school, and the Weibo page of Japan’s embassy in Beijing has been inundated with many supportive, apologetic, and consoling comments.
The suspect in the attack, a 44-year-old Chinese man, has been taken into custody by police. Although the man’s motives remain unclear, many observers suspect that anti-Japanese hatred may have been to blame. The stabbing occurred on September 18, the anniversary of the 1931 “Mukden Incident” that served as a pretext for the Japanese Imperial Army’s invasion of Manchuria. Every year, the date is marked by an uptick in anti-Japanese rhetoric on Chinese television, in school classrooms, and in various state-media outlets.
CDT is publishing a series of posts about online Chinese reactions to anti-Japanese xenophobia and violence. The first post explored the initial public outcry following the stabbing of the boy in Shenzhen, and featured translations of two essays on the topic. This second post features translated netizen comments from Weibo, and selected excerpts from four now-censored articles and essays.
CDT editors have collected and translated some of the comments from Weibo users about the attack:
ichbinX1m1ng: This is the result of an educational system that “teaches hatred.” It’s truly shameful.
runner6: Put yourself in their shoes and just imagine what the reaction in China would be if one of our elementary school students going to school in Japan were stabbed to death by a Japanese person. It seems like many people care more about political posturing, nationality, history, and hatred than they do about human life. This shows that we’re still a long way from being civilized.
所念皆星河2019: What did that little boy ever do wrong? This is what comes of a lifetime of “patriotic” education—it produces cowards who are only capable of preying on the weak.
糖醋_小排_: Can we still proclaim to the world that we’re a peace-loving country?
晓磊的基金生活: If there had been some soul-searching after the Suzhou stabbing, things might not have come to this … There are many things we need to reflect on, particularly how the current public opinion climate has given rise to incidents like this. Who should take the blame?
Peng笔生辉: Even Ms. Hu Youping’s bravery and sacrifice are not enough to halt the violence of these populist dregs of society. As Lu Xun wrote: “When a man of courage is outraged, he draws his sword against an oppressor stronger than he. When a coward is outraged, he draws his sword against a man weaker than he. Among a race of hopeless cowards, there must be ‘heroes’ who specialize in browbeating children.” What cowards!
T半颗心T: Where’s the difference between killing an innocent Japanese child and [wartime] Japanese militarism and fascism? Some people and “big-V” online influencers point to “national sentiment” as an excuse, but we Chinese people of conscience aren’t beasts and would never take our anger out on a child. [Chinese]
CDT has also compiled some of the best excerpts from among the outpouring of soul-searching articles and essays on WeChat about the Shenzhen attack. All of the four articles referenced below have been deleted by platform censors.
From a censored article by WeChat account Narwhal Workshop, criticizing the vague initial coverage and ambiguously worded police report:
This “spiral of incitement” will in no way benefit China’s socioeconomic development. Some of my friends believe that these frequent attacks on Japanese children will only accelerate the withdrawal of Japanese companies from China, which seems a reasonable inference. When such tragedies occur, ambiguity only makes things worse.
From a censored article by WeChat account Da Leng, discussing how the stabbing has impacted Shenzhen’s reputation as one of China’s most tolerant, diverse, and open cities:
How Shenzhen responds to this tragic, shameful, and extreme incident will show whether this city—whose fortunes are rooted in China’s “reform and opening”—is still willing to continue that process of opening up, and whether it still values human life, dignity, and freedom.
From a censored article by WeChat account Shenzhen Visitor, echoing the apologies from many Shenzhen residents who left flowers at the school or condolences online:
I want to tell that Japanese boy that we are sorry.
From a censored article by the tech-focused WeChat account Planetary Business Review, reflecting on Shenzhen’s history as a bastion of reform and opening, with Japanese companies being some of the city’s earliest investors:
After the incident, some reporters took photos of the crime scene outside the school walls. Some of the paving stones on the sidewalk were noticeably pale, bleached white from repeated washing [to clean off the bloodstains].
