- author, Kelly Ng
- role, BBC News
A Chinese woman was killed while trying to protect a Japanese mother and her child from a knife attack.
Hu Youping was working as a school bus driver in Suzhou when a man attacked a Japanese woman and her child at a bus stop outside a Japanese school.
She was seriously injured while trying to restrain him.
Tributes for her have been pouring in online, and the local government announced it would give her the title of “Model of Justice and Courage”.
The Japanese embassy in China also flew flags at half-mast in memory of Hu. In a statement on Weibo, the embassy said it was “saddened” by his death.
“we believe [Ms Hu’s] “Courage and kindness are also symbols of the Chinese people. We salute her for her righteous deeds. May she rest in peace,” the statement said.
Condolences and praise were also pouring in on Chinese social media.
“We will never forget your kindness and courage in protecting the safety of our friends in Japan and safeguarding the honor of ordinary Chinese people,” the Weibo comment read.
Another described Hu as “an ordinary, noble and brave Chinese sister.”
The mother and son sustained injuries in Monday’s attack that were not life-threatening, and the suspect, a 52-year-old Chinese man, was arrested at the scene.
Chinese authorities have said the two attacks were “isolated” incidents.
China’s state-run Global Times newspaper published an editorial praising Hu on Friday, arguing that “China remains undoubtedly one of the safest countries in the world.”
The paper also reported that after the incident, Weibo removed 759 posts that “incited nationalistic sentiment” and contained “extreme opinions” that “incited communal hatred and glorified criminal acts in the name of patriotism.”
The stabbing incident in Suzhou has raised concerns among the local Japanese community and prompted the embassy to issue a safety alert warning Japanese people in China to be careful when out and about.
China’s foreign ministry said the incident was “regrettable” and that it would “continue to take effective measures to seriously safeguard the safety of all foreign nationals in China.”
China has seen a series of knife attacks over the past year.
A similar attack at a primary school in the southern province of Jiangxi in May left two people dead and 10 injured, followed in the same month by a stabbing attack at a hospital in Yunnan province, leaving two dead and 21 injured.
Last July, a stabbing incident occurred at a kindergarten in southeastern China’s Guangdong Province, leaving six people dead, including three children.
