US college instructors stabbed on academic exchange in China

Four instructors from an American college were hospitalised after being stabbed while on an academic exchange in China.

The teachers, from Cornell College in Iowa, were visiting a park in Jilin City in north-east China on 10 June when they were violently attacked. According to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they were immediately taken to hospital and have not sustained life-threatening injuries.

Videos shared on Chinese social media appeared to show the victims lying on the ground in the park, covered in blood. The footage has since been taken down.

“The preliminary judgement from the police is that this case is a random incident,” said Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the ministry. “Currently, further investigations are under way.”

Cornell College, a private liberal arts institution, entered into a partnership with China’s Beihua University in 2018. As part of the agreement, Cornell professors travel to and teach at the Chinese university for two-week periods.

A representative from Beihua University, a public institution in Jilin City, was reportedly with the instructors when the incident took place.

In the wake of the stabbing, Chinese authorities rushed to reassure the world that the country was a safe place to visit.

“China is recognised as one of the safest countries in the world,” Mr Lin said. “China has always taken effective measures and will continue to take such measures to earnestly protect the safety of all foreigners in China.

“The…random incident will not affect the normal conducting of people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States.”

Leaders from both China and the US have recently spoken about the need to encourage academic exchanges amid strained geopolitical relations.

In a letter to Lamont Repollet, president of Kean University in the US, China’s president, Xi Jinping, said on 7 June that China-US education exchanges could help to promote mutual understanding between the two nations.

According to state media, Mr Xi called on universities from both countries to “strengthen exchanges and cooperation” and invited the US “education community” to visit China more frequently.

Similarly, speaking to students at NYU Shanghai in April, Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said the countries were “determined to strengthen our people-to-people ties, including…educational exchanges”.

As of April 2024, there were about 700 US students at Chinese universities, down from more than 11,000 before the pandemic.

“Engaging in China-US people-to-people exchanges is in line with both sides’ interests, and has received enthusiastic support and responses from all levels in both countries,” Mr Lin said.

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com