Tim Cheung (@TimCheung)

"The deadly stabbing of a 10-year-old boy in #China has raised alarm among the #Japanese community in the country while triggering a flood of criticism of the incident and extreme nationalist comments on #Chinese #socialmedia. He was attacked by a 44-year-old man on his way to #Guangzhou Japanese #School in the south-eastern city of #Shenzhen last Wednesday. The boy, who is the son of a Japanese father and Chinese mother, died from his injuries the next day...It was the second attack on a Japanese national this year and took place on the 93rd anniversary of the Japanese invasion of #Manchuria — a region of north-east China that today consists of the #Liaoning, #Jilin and #Heilongjiang provinces. After the attack on the 10-year-old, the Chinese ambassador in Tokyo was summoned by the Japanese Foreign Ministry where he was 'strongly urged that security be strengthened including around Japanese schools throughout China'. Japan's Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa described the attack as 'despicable' and asked her Chinese counterpart #WangYi to 'make every possible effort' to prevent further attacks on Japanese #nationals in China. She also urged #Beijing to crack down on anti-Japan social media posts that could incite confrontation between Japan and China...the stabbing has left the Japanese community in China on high alert. The Japanese School of Beijing emailed parents with safety tips, such as not speaking Japanese loudly in public and warned against children leaving home alone. Some Japanese companies are also reportedly allowing their expatriate employees in China to temporarily return home at the company's expense. China ranks first in terms of the number of overseas bases of Japanese companies, according to Japan's Foreign Ministry...Following the 1989 #Tiananmen Square student protest, Beijing introduced compulsory patriotic education curriculum including the ideologies of key #Communist Party leaders, the history of China and the party...Professor Florian Schneider, a China #scholar from Leiden University, said the antagonistic and xenophobic sentiments were promoted by Chinese officials 'in the service of #patriotic #education'. 'Entire generations have grown up with nationalist interpretations that paint a bleak picture of Japan, and these impressions are perpetuated by #museums, television entertainment, video games, and official commemoration activities', he said...'While the vast majority of people in China are of course able to understand the nuances of their nation's history, there are bound to be individuals that draw simplistic and toxic conclusions'." https://www.facebook.com/ChinaCreepingAuthoritarianism/posts/pfbid031oC2eLHTtt2U72EnzsGsqqWedZov3mZYWCDdVnu5CUjkjGKdHM3fr6ziZY22RRD9l