Four American teachers brutally stabbed in attack in China

By Natasha Anderson and Paul Farrell for Dailymail.Com

08:36 June 11, 2024, updated 10:16 June 11, 2024

• Cornell College Educators Participate in Teaching Exchange Program
• One of the victims is the brother of a prominent Iowa Democrat.

Four visiting college professors from Iowa were brutally stabbed in an attack in China Tuesday morning.

Educators from Cornell College in Mount Vernon were participating in a teaching exchange program with a partner university, Beihua, in the city of Jilin.

The group was visiting a temple in Beishan Park when they were attacked by a man armed with a knife. No motive has been reported.

Iowa Rep. Adam Zabner told Reuters his brother was one of the victims at Cornell College in Iowa. The other victims have not yet been publicly identified.

Police launched a manhunt for Cui Dapeng, a resident of Jilin city, whom they identified as a “major suspect” in the attack, according to the Chinese government.

Zabner described his brother as a doctoral student at Tufts University who was in China as part of the Cornell-Beihua relationship.

“My brother, David Zabner, was injured in the arm in a knife attack while visiting a temple in the city of Jilin, China,” he said.

“I have spoken to David…he is recovering from his injuries and is doing well. My family is incredibly grateful that David survived this attack.

A video of people lying on the ground in a park covered in blood was circulating on Monday on X, although no trace of these images could be found on Chinese social networks.

Reuters was able to identify the location of the video from Chinese characters written on a wall, the structure of the wall and the layout of the path, but was unable to confirm when the video was filmed.

A spokesperson for the US State Department said in an emailed statement that it was aware of reports of a “stabbing incident” in Jilin, China, and was monitoring the situation.

“We are working through the appropriate channels and requesting to speak with the U.S. Embassy on appropriate issues to ensure that victims first receive quality care for their injuries and then leave China in a medically feasible manner,” he said. said Iowa Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks. wrote on X.

The Ministry of Public Security's Chinese Foreign NGO Management Office issued an alert on social media platform WeChat confirming the incident, which they said occurred around 11:40 a.m. Monday in Beishan Park.

The notice identified Dapeng as the alleged suspect in the case, with the public security department advising that the file be distributed to all police forces. Authorities encouraged that Dapeng would be arrested if found.

The notice also stated that the victims suffered “varying degrees” of injuries and were taken to hospital. Their condition is not life-threatening, according to the government agency.

“Police have preliminarily judged that this was a random incident but an investigation is underway,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday. daily press briefing.

“All the injured were immediately taken to hospital and received appropriate intensive care, no one's life is in danger,” Lin said.

China's Foreign Ministry said it will continue to take effective measures to ensure the safety of foreigners in China.

News of the incident was suppressed in China, where the government maintains control of information on anything considered sensitive. The media didn't talk about it.

Some social media accounts posted reports about the attack in foreign media, but a hashtag about it was blocked on a popular portal and photos and videos of the incident were quickly deleted.

A few remaining posts on Chinese social media platform Weibo questioned the widespread censorship of the incident in official media.

“Do they really think that censoring domestic discussion of the incident has an impact on whether foreigners choose to visit China? » » posted a Weibo user.

Educators from Cornell College, a private college in Mount Vernon, were participating in a teaching exchange program with a partner university, Beihua, in the city of Jilin.

Jen Visser, a spokeswoman for Cornell College, said the school was still gathering information about what happened.

Cornell President Jonathan Brand sent a statement to students, KCCI reported, saying in part: “We have learned that four Cornell instructors teaching through a partnership with a university in China were injured during a serious incident during a daytime visit to a public park. in the company of a professor from the partner establishment.

“We have been in contact with all four instructors and are assisting them during this time. No students participated in this program.

A university press release from 2018, when the partnership program began, says Beihua funds Cornell professors to travel to China to teach a portion of computer science, mathematics and physical over a period of two weeks.

According to a 2020 article on Beihua's website, the Chinese university uses American teaching methods and resources to give engineering students an international perspective and English proficiency.

About a third of the program's core courses use American textbooks and are taught by American professors, according to the newspaper. Students can apply to study two out of four years at Cornell College and receive degrees from both institutions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged this year to invite 50,000 young Americans to China for study programs aimed at strengthening people-to-people ties, but a Level 3 travel advisory from the State Department – the second highest warning level – towards mainland China.

Citing arbitrary detentions as well as exit bans that could prevent U.S. citizens from leaving the country, the State Department urged Americans to “reconsider travel” to China.

Some U.S. universities have suspended their programs in China due to the travel advisory.

Lin, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, said China had taken effective measures to protect the safety of foreigners.

“We believe that this isolated incident will not disrupt normal cultural and human exchanges between the two countries,” he said.

There are currently fewer than 900 American exchange students studying in China, compared to more than 290,000 Chinese students in the United States, according to U.S. data.