Four university instructors from the US are currently hospitalised after being stabbed by an unidentified attacker in a public park in China.
According to a statement from Cornell College in Iowa, the incident, described as serious, took place while the instructors were visiting the park during the day in the northern Jilin province.
Iowa Representative, Adam Zabner, revealed that his brother, David, was among those injured, referring to the event as a stabbing.
He mentioned that the group was exploring a local temple on Monday when they were assaulted by a man wielding a knife.
Zabner noted that his brother sustained a stab wound to his arm at Beishan Park in Jilin city and is now recovering in the hospital.
He said, “He has not yet been released this morning but he’s doing ok.”
A spokesperson from the US State Department said that they were aware of reports regarding a stabbing incident in Jilin but could not offer additional details.
Cornell College announced that the four instructors were teaching through a partnership with a Chinese university.
During their Monday visit to the park, they were accompanied by a representative from Beihua University. While Chinese authorities have yet to comment on the incident, images of the aftermath quickly spread on social media.
The photos appear to show at least three injured individuals bleeding and lying on the ground. However, information about the incident seems to have been swiftly censored online in China.
By Tuesday, searches for keywords like “foreigners Jilin” yielded no results on Weibo, even though the term was trending. Internet users turned to related topics for discussions and requested more details about the event.
Chinese state media have provided limited coverage of the incident.
Representative Zabner mentioned that his brother, a doctoral student at Tufts University, had previously visited China and was on his second trip with Cornell College.
Despite tense diplomatic relations, Beijing and Washington have recently tried to revive people-to-people exchanges.
Chinese President, Xi Jinping, has introduced a plan to invite 50,000 young Americans to China over the next five years, while Chinese diplomats note that a US State Department travel advisory has deterred Americans from visiting China.
Follow us on:
