US teachers among 5 stabbed in northeastern China | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

Chinese police have detained a man for stabbing four US college instructors and a Chinese tourist in the northeastern province of Jilin.

The police say the instructors were sent from Cornell College in the Midwestern state of Iowa to a Chinese university. They say the five victims were suddenly stabbed by a man at a park in the province on Monday.

Reuters news agency released footage of the site showing some people lying on the ground in a park.

It was not until late on Tuesday that the police announced the stabbing incident had occurred. They said they detained a 55-year-old man who lives nearby.

They said the five victims were being treated at a hospital and their injuries were not life-threatening.

The police are looking into what exactly happened at the time and his motives.

International journalists quizzed Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian about the incident during a regular news conference that was held before the police announcement.

Lin said, “This isolated incident will not affect the normal people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States.”

The stabbing incident occurred at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping is calling for more exchanges in the private sector to stabilize US-China relations.

The spokesperson’s remark is seen as reflecting the Chinese government’s wish to minimize the impact of the incident on the relations.