4 Cornell College instructors injured in stabbing attack in China; suspect arrested

Four instructors affiliated with Cornell College in Iowa were injured in a stabbing attack during a visit to a park in China, the university said Monday. China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that none of the foreigners were seriously injured in what it said appeared to be “an isolated incident”.

The instructors were in the northeastern Chinese city of Jilin teaching as part of a partnership program with a local university, Jonathan Brand, the university's president, said in a statement. The instructors had been accompanied by a faculty member from the university's partner institution in China at the time of the attack, Brand added. At the time, no students at the small liberal arts college in Mount Vernon, Iowa, were participating in the program.

Local police said Tuesday that a 55-year-old suspect had been arrested. Officials said the man had stabbed the four Americans after one of them bumped into him. Police said the suspect also stabbed a Chinese person who came forward to intervene.

State Rep. Adam Zabner said his brother, David Zabner, who was on his second trip to China with Cornell, was one of the victims. According to Deputy Zabner, the group was visiting a local temple when they were attacked by a man with a knife. David Zabner, a doctoral student at Tufts who previously taught at Cornell, was stabbed in the arm and is recovering at a hospital, his brother said.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday during a regular press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the incident was still under investigation but police had preliminarily determined it appeared to be an isolated attack. and random The ministry did not expect it to affect “normal exchanges” of people between China and the United States, Lin said.

“Four foreign professors from Beihua University in Jilin City were attacked while walking through the city's Beishan Park,” Lin told reporters on Tuesday. “All of the injured were rushed to hospital and received appropriate medical attention. None of them are in a critical condition. Police believed this to be an isolated incident based on a preliminary assessment. Further investigations are still ongoing.”

“People-to-people and cultural exchange between China and the US serves the common interests of both sides and has received positive support from various sectors of the two countries,” he said, adding: “China is widely regarded as one of the safest countries in the world has taken effective measures and will continue to take relevant measures to protect the safety of foreign nationals in China.

Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks said her office was in contact with the U.S. Embassy in China to ensure that victims of the attack receive quality care and are transported to home safely

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said she was in contact with the state's federal delegation as well as the State Department. “Please pray for their full recovery, safe return and their families here at home,” Reynolds wrote on social media.