Hours after Chinese nationals were hurt in Tokyo, a Japanese woman was attacked in China amid escalating tensions

Two Chinese people were injured in a street incident in Tokyo just hours before a Japanese woman was attacked in Suzhou.

Just hours after two Chinese people were gravely hurt in an unconnected event in Tokyo, a Japanese woman in Suzhou, in eastern China, was attacked and hurt inside a subway station on Thursday. Authorities in China and Japan have reported the twin incidents, which have raised worries about an increasing wave of xenophobic violence and escalating anti-Chinese sentiment.

Citing the Consulate General in Shanghai, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said that the woman and her child were inside a Suzhou subway station at the time of the incident. The infant was not hurt, but the mom was hurt and had to go to the hospital for treatment before she could go home. Her name has not been revealed.

According to the Japanese news agency Kyodo, local police had arrested the suspect in the Suzhou incident; but, by Friday night, Suzhou authorities had not released an official comment. No one answered a call to the local police station.

Since last year, the attack is the third instance of violence against Japanese nationals in China that has been reported. In June 2024, another Japanese mother and her child were attacked in Suzhou in a similar occurrence. A Chinese bus attendant was slain for attempting to step in. In that case, the attacker received a death sentence. A 10-year-old Japanese student was fatally stabbed by a Chinese guy outside the Japanese School in Shenzhen in September 2023. The death penalty was also imposed on that assailant.

“That such an incident has occurred again is very regrettable,” the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China said in a statement on Friday. In order to conduct business in China, it is essential to guarantee the security of workers and their families.

Authorities are looking into a violent street incident in Tokyo as four unidentified attackers brandishing weapons attacked two Chinese men. The assailants have not been caught. Japanese authorities have been urged by the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo to quickly capture the culprits and protect Chinese people living in Japan.

According to the embassy, “we urge the Japanese government to protect the safety and legal rights of Chinese citizens in light of the recent surge in xenophobic sentiment in Japanese society.”

Despite efforts by both administrations to portray these attacks as isolated instances, the trend of retaliatory violence and the rise in nationalist rhetoric on both sides has contributed to the growing fear of the people.

Although political disagreements, memories of the war, and regional competitiveness have always influenced tensions between China and Japan, recent attacks on civilians, particularly women and children, have come under close attention from diplomatic circles and human rights organizations.

Analysts caution that if the government does not take proactive measures to protect vulnerable communities and ease public tensions, mistrust between the two biggest economies in Asia may worsen, affecting not only social connections but also commercial and diplomatic interactions.