Chinese woman who tried to stop stabbing attack on Japanese mother and son dies from her injuries

A woman who was seriously injured while trying to stop a knife attack on a Japanese school bus in the Chinese city of Suzhou has died.

Police in the eastern Chinese city posted an announcement on their website Thursday that they would award the title of “just and courageous role model” to a woman who died after stopping a knife attack.

The announcement confirmed that Hu Youping, 54, was the Chinese victim of an attack on a Japanese school bus on Monday afternoon. A later report from the official Xinhua News Agency said Hu Youping died on Wednesday.

The Japanese embassy in Beijing lowered its flag at half-mast Friday morning in Hu’s honor and posted condolences on social media sites X and its Chinese version Weibo.

“We believe his courage and kindness represented Chinese public opinion. We hereby salute Ms. Hu’s great act of justice and wish her to rest in peace,” the embassy said.

A Japanese boy and his mother were also injured in Monday’s attack, one of whom remains hospitalized.

Suzhou police earlier said the attacker was an unemployed 52-year-old surnamed Zhou.

According to the Suzhou police statement, Hu spotted a stabbing attack at a bus stop in Suzhou around 4 p.m. Monday and “immediately rushed to stop him, was stabbed several times by the suspect and was unfortunately died without being rescued.

Hu Jintao’s courageous act “prevented more people from being hurt,” he said, an assessment echoed by witnesses cited in Friday’s Xinhua report.

Xinhua also quoted the injured Japanese mother as saying that Hu stopped the attacker and allowed her son to escape.

“Suzhou has taken and will continue to take effective measures to protect the safety of every person,” a Suzhou government official was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

The Communist Party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily published an opinion piece Friday afternoon asserting that “China is a society based on the rule of law and a safe place.”

“The stabbing incident was an extremely rare and isolated case and is not representative. We also do not accept the behavior of individuals who stir up “xenophobia” and make hate speech,” the article said.

Several hashtags related to Hu’s death were trending on the social network Weibo on Friday morning.

“She protected innocent children and the dignity of the Chinese people,” read one popular comment.

Following Monday’s attack, ultranationalist and anti-Japanese comments were posted on Weibo. The platform issued a statement Wednesday evening announcing the suspension of 36 accounts for such comments.

“Some individual users have posted extreme remarks that stir up national sentiments and promote group hatred, even calling for criminal acts in the name of patriotism,” Weibo said.

There are 12 Japanese schools spread across 10 cities in mainland China, including one in Beijing and two in Shanghai, according to the Japanese Ministry of Education. There are also two in Hong Kong.

These schools are approved by Chinese authorities to educate the children of Japanese citizens in China, including businessmen and diplomats.

According to the latest data from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there were 102,066 Japanese citizens – including 15,634 children – in China as of October 2022, down 5.2 percent from the previous year.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning expressed “regret” over the attack and said: “China will take effective measures to protect foreigners in China, just as it protects its own citizens.”

Monday’s attack was the second in China this month in which foreigners were injured. In another case, four teachers from Cornell College in the United States were stabbed in a park in China’s Jilin province.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian called the incident an “isolated incident.”