On June 11, CNN and Chengdu Daily reported that four Americans were seriously injured in a knife attack in Jilin City, Jilin Province, northeastern China.
According to the reports, on June 10, the four Americans collapsed after being attacked by an unidentified assailant in Jilin Beishan Park.
The victims are faculty members from Cornell College in Iowa, USA. They were in China to teach English at Beihua University.
On the day of the incident, the Americans were visiting Beisan Park with local staff when they were attacked. The injured were taken to the hospital for treatment.
Three of the injured were conscious after the attack, but one was severely wounded and covered in blood.
The Beisan Park Police Station has not disclosed any information regarding the suspect’s arrest or the crime’s motive.
Ashley Hinson, a federal congresswoman from Iowa, stated on X that the Cornell College faculty members had been “brutally stabbed.” She promised to contact Cornell College, the victims’ school, and expedite their return to the U.S.
Kim Reynolds, the Governor of Iowa, also expressed her wishes for the injured’s quick recovery and safe return, stating that she is in communication with the State Department.
The U.S. State Department is aware of the incident and is investigating the details.
Media outlets reporting on the incident are cautiously treating it as a crime stemming from anti-American sentiment rather than a simple act of violence.
The U.S. and China are currently in conflict over issues such as the South China Sea and Taiwan.
On April 7, the U.S., Japan, Australia, and the Philippines conducted joint naval and air force exercises in the disputed South China Sea, specifically within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). China responded with counter-patrols.
Previously, on June 6, the defense ministers of the four countries announced a joint statement predicting maritime cooperation activities. The ministers stated in the declaration, “This joint exercise aims to demonstrate our collective resolve to support a free and open Indo-Pacific through regional and international cooperation.”
The four countries reaffirmed their stance that the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruling, which found China’s claims to the South China Sea to be without legal basis, is final and legally binding.
However, China continues to ignore this ruling, claiming that 90% of the South China Sea is their territorial waters.
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