4 US university professors injured in stabbing attack in China

HONG KONG — Four American instructors at a small Iowa college were injured in a stabbing attack while on a teaching trip to China, their school and U.S. officials said.

The four professors at Cornell College, a private liberal arts college in Mount Vernon, Iowa, were injured “in a serious incident” during a daytime visit to a public park, the president confirmed of the school, Jonathan Brand, in a press release.

They were accompanied by a faculty member from the school's Chinese partner institution, Beihua University, during the attack in the northeastern Chinese city of Jilin.

Brand said the school had been in contact with all four and was helping them.

A State Department spokesperson said U.S. officials were aware of the reports and were monitoring the situation, but declined to comment further.

As of midday Tuesday local time, Chinese authorities had not made any statement on the incident.

Iowa State Representative Adam Zabner confirmed that his brother, David Zabner, was among the victims. He said his brother had stitches after being stabbed in the arm and remained hospitalized, but was doing well and in good spirits.

David Zabner, a Tufts University graduate student and Cornell College alumnus who previously taught there, had previously participated in the exchange program and returned this year, Adam Zabner said.

Details about the condition of the other victims, who have not yet been publicly identified, are unclear. It was also unclear whether the teachers were targeted or attacked randomly.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said on X that she was in contact with the Iowa federal delegation and the State Department in response to “this horrific attack.”

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said the that she and her team were in contact with Cornell College and the State Department and “praying for a speedy recovery for all.”

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Republican of Iowa, whose district includes Mount Vernon, said in a statement that she was trying to contact the U.S. Embassy to ensure victims could leave China as soon as possible after receiving treatment. their injuries.

The attack came as the United States and China, the world's two largest economies, promote people-to-people exchanges as part of an effort to improve overall bilateral relations. U.S. officials are considering easing Level 3 travel advisories for mainland China, its second-highest warning level, in part because they fear it would discourage such trade.

During a visit to the United States last November, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing was ready to invite 50,000 young Americans to China for exchange and study programs over the next five years. .

The number of Americans studying in China has declined sharply over the past decade, particularly during the country's three years of pandemic isolation. There are currently nearly 300,000 Chinese students in the United States, while fewer than 900 Americans study in China, according to U.S. data.

Even though China has some of the strictest gun control laws in the world, stabbing attacks are not uncommon.

Chinese state media, which often reports on Chinese nationals facing violence in the United States, remained silent on the stabbing attack, even though the term “Jilin” trended on the social media platform Weibo Tuesday.

Prominent Chinese commentator Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of the state-backed nationalist tabloid Global Times, said he hoped it was an isolated incident that would not have “an impact negative on the exchange of personnel between China and other countries.

“Our people are generally very friendly towards foreign tourists who appear at markets and tourist attractions,” he said in a Weibo post. “Whatever the motive of the attacker in this incident, this is an isolated case in the broader context of Chinese society.”