A Chinese man convicted of fatally stabbing a 10-year-old Japanese schoolboy in Shenzhen, southern China, in September has been executed, a diplomatic source said Monday.
Zhong Changchun was sentenced to death in January for killing the boy -- the son of a Japanese father and a Chinese mother -- near a Japanese school in the southern city. He did not appeal the sentence.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry informed the Japanese Embassy in Beijing on Monday that the man had been executed, according to the source.
The man from Jiangxi Province told a Jan 24 court hearing that he hoped to speak with the victim's family, as well as the Japanese Embassy in China, but he did not say he had specifically targeted Japanese nationals, said Kenji Kanasugi, ambassador to China.
Zhong attacked the boy after buying a knife to "draw online attention" through the assault, the envoy quoted the court ruling as saying. The boy died the following day after being stabbed on his way to the Japanese school in Shenzhen.
The stabbing occurred on the 93rd anniversary of the Japanese bombing of a railroad track near Shenyang, which marked the beginning of the Manchurian Incident that led to Japan's invasion of northeastern China.
Last week, Japanese government officials said a Chinese man convicted of killing a Chinese woman and injuring two Japanese nationals in a knife attack last June at a Japanese school bus stop in Suzhou near Shanghai had been executed.
The two deadly knife attacks sent shockwaves through Japanese communities in China. Tokyo has repeatedly asked Beijing to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals living in the country.
© KYODO
20 Comments
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Mr Kipling
More great work by the Chinese authorities, justice done.
TokyoLiving
Excellent news..
Justice is served..
Well done for China's justice..
An example for the overrated "free" western world..
sakurasuki
At least Chinese caught that perpetrator red handed, so they executed the right person. Unlike Japanese that use confession for making someone guilty just to get 99% conviction rate.
Fighto!
Good news to read. I disagree with the CCP on many fronts, but they got this completely right. This evil individual got at least some of the punishment he deserved.
Rest in Peace to the innocent boy.
JboneInTheZone
Killing its own citizens is something China excels at.
Pukey2
If the dead were your own child, would you still be here moaning, or are you here to just criticize everything about China? A little birdie tells me Japan and USA also execute prisoners. Do I hear crickets in your court?
JboneInTheZone
Japan and America combined haven’t killed as many of their own people as the CCP.
NZ
short process and effective one.
Laguna
An eye for an eye, and the whole world goes blind.
nandakandamanda
Perhaps the CCP chose this volatile time to show some rapprochement with Japan.
Gives me no pleasure to read about this execution, but if it serves to make other people stop and think a little before murdering others, then maybe I can see the reason.
WoodyLee
Justice Served.
GuruMick
Nanda above...capital punishment no deterrent as many studies have shown.
Seems not to provide "closure " for the living relatives of victims either.
Satisfies a vengeance gene in humans probably
Mr Kipling
Capital punishment is obviously the best deterrent. No executed prisoner has ever gone on to commit more crime. But anyway, it isn't meant to be a deterrent. The death penalty is a punishment. The part of justice that so many people seem to forget.
Mr Kipling
You do know that the "99% conviction rate " has been debunked long ago. Japan does have a higher conviction rate, the main reason being that so many fewer cases actually make it to court. Any doubt and the prosecutors tend to drop the case.
Alongfortheride
As does 54 other countries in this situation.
stormcrow
Government propaganda and its negative side effects should also be carefully examined.
JboneInTheZone
China executes 8000 people a year, more than any other country on earth. There’s no comparison
Alongfortheride
There is a comparison, if your numbers of 8000 are correct that's 1 execution per 176,000 people in China.
Iran is 1 execution in every 99,000 people.
Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Yemen have similar numbers.
Alberto
Applauding the execution of anyone reflects a vengeful and bloodthirsty mindset. The fact that this kind of reaction seems to have widespread support in Japan lowers my respect for the country and makes me question its level of social development.