4 American college instructors injured in stabbing attack in China

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

Chinese police said Tuesday that a suspect had been arrested and that those injured were receiving treatment but not in life-threatening condition.

The rare attack on foreigners in the powerful security state comes as China is trying to repair ties with the United States and revive tourism to help boost a sluggish economy after three years of isolation amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The four instructors from 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 school’s president, Jonathan Brand, confirmed in a statement Monday.

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 assisting them.

Graphic video circulating on social media showed one woman and two men, one of them soaked in blood, lying on the ground at Beishan Park in central Jilin, where there are multiple ancient temples.

Injured people lie on the ground after a reported stabbing attack at Beishan Park in Jilin, China.via X

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