Four US academics stabbed in China's Beishan park in daytime attack

Four college instructors from the United States were stabbed in broad daylight while visiting a public park in China's northeastern province of Jilin, as reported by The Guardian on Tuesday. The incident occurred on Monday while the educators from Cornell College in Iowa were at the park, accompanied by a faculty member from Beihua University, according to a statement by Jonathan Brand, the president of Cornell College.

Details about the extent of the injuries and whether the attack was targeted or random remain unclear. Iowa state representative Adam Zabner informed the media that his brother, David Zabner, was among the group. David sustained an arm injury during the stabbing at Beishan park and is recovering in the hospital.

A video showing people lying on the ground covered in blood circulated on social media platform X on Monday, although there has been no official statement from Chinese authorities or reports in Chinese media about the incident.

The US state department acknowledged the reports of the stabbing and mentioned that it is closely monitoring the situation. This attack comes at a time when both Beijing and Washington are aiming to sustain people-to-people exchanges to prevent further deterioration of bilateral relations.

In an effort to enhance these exchanges, Chinese President Xi Jinping recently announced a plan to invite 50,000 young Americans to China over the next five years. However, Chinese diplomats have indicated that the US state department's travel advisory discourages Americans from traveling to China. Currently, fewer than 900 US exchange students are studying in China, compared to over 290,000 Chinese students in the US, based on US data.