Exchanges won't be disrupted by isolated incident

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian. (Photo/mfa.gov.cn)

A preliminary investigation showed that the attack on four United States teachers in Northeast China's Jilin province was a random incident that will not disrupt the normal cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Tuesday.

The four teachers, who are from Beihua University in the province's Jilin city, were attacked on Monday when touring the city's Beishan Park, Lin told a daily news conference on Tuesday in Beijing.

A Chinese tourist who tried to stop the stabbing was also injured, according to a statement released by local police.

The suspect, a 55-year-old man surnamed Cui, was arrested on Monday. Cui had collided with a foreign national while walking in the park, and then he stabbed the foreigner and three other foreign companions, as well as a Chinese tourist who tried to stop him, the statement said.

Those who were injured received medical treatment, but none of them were in critical condition, it said.

An investigation was still underway, according to local police. The four educators are from Cornell College in the US state of Iowa and were on a teaching exchange program with Beihua University.

China is widely considered one of the safest countries in the world, said Lin, the spokesman, adding that Beijing has taken effective measures and will continue to take relevant measures to protect the safety of foreign nationals in the country.

Lin said the isolated incident will not disrupt normal exchanges of people from China and the US.

Such exchanges serve the common interests of both countries and have been supported by both sides, he said.

The partnership between Cornell College and Beihua University began in 2018, The New York Times quoted Jan Visser, a spokeswoman for Cornell College, as saying. Beihua University provides funding for the college's professors to travel to and live in China, and teach computer science, mathematics, and physics over a two-week period.