Zhong was sentenced to death in January by a Chinese court on charges of murder after he attacked the boy while the child was walking to a Japanese school in the southeastern Chinese city.

In a statement sent to the BBC, the Japanese Embassy said, “The Japanese government regards the killing of an innocent child as an unforgivable crime, and views the execution as a sign of utmost seriousness.”

The embassy added that it had been informed of the execution by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and stated that “Japan will continue to take all necessary safety measures, and strongly urges the Chinese government to ensure the security of Japanese nationals residing in the country.”

Japanese officials who attended the trial noted that the court did not explicitly reference Japan during the proceedings. Kenji Kanasugi, Japan’s ambassador to China, confirmed that Zhong had expressed a desire to speak with the victim’s family, though it remained unclear whether the attack was motivated by anti-Japanese sentiment.

The execution came just one day after another Chinese court sentenced Zhou Jiesheng, 52, to death for the murder of a Japanese mother and child and a Chinese woman who tried to intervene. That attack took place in Suzhou in June 2024.

Both cases have intensified public concern in Japan over the safety of its citizens living in China and are likely to influence future diplomatic discussions between the two countries.

The two recent cases have further underscored growing concerns over the unchecked spread of extreme nationalist rhetoric on Chinese social media platforms. This phenomenon has fueled a rising wave of xenophobia in recent years and is believed to be a key factor behind several attacks targeting foreigners in China — particularly Japanese nationals, with whom China shares a long history of political and historical tensions.

Observers warn that such online hostility, if left unaddressed, risks escalating into real-world violence, as seen in the tragic incidents in Shenzhen and Suzhou. These events have renewed calls for both stricter regulation of online hate speech and stronger protective measures for foreign communities residing in China.

https://www.thairath.co.th/news/foreign/2854363