“We are aware that four foreign teachers from Beihua University were attacked while sightseeing in the city’s Beishan Park on the morning of June 10,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Tuesday. “All the injured have been taken to hospital, but their conditions are not critical.”
Lin said Chinese police considered the incident an “isolated incident”, adding that “cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States serve the common interests of both sides and have been actively supported by various sectors in both countries.”
“China is widely considered to be one of the safest countries in the world,” he said.
Cornell University President Jonathan Brand told The Associated Press that the lecturers were with professors from Beihua University when they were attacked.
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The identities of the four instructors and details of their injuries have not been released. Cornell University, a private college in Mount Vernon, Iowa, said it was still gathering information about the incident.
While China’s mainstream media did not appear to report the news, social media posts mentioning “Jilin” and “Jilin Beishan Park” were a top trending topic on the microblogging site Weibo on Tuesday, with posts with the hashtag “Jilin Beishan Park” being viewed more than 4 million times.
Relations between Beijing and Washington remain strained due to tensions over trade and security in the Indo-Pacific region.
Shibani Mahtani and Pei-Lin Wu contributed to this report.
