Four visiting college teachers from Iowa were brutally stabbed in an attack in China on Tuesday morning.
The teachers were from Cornell College on a teaching exchange program with a partner university, Beihua, in the city of Jilin.
The group was visiting a temple in Bishan Park when a man attacked them with a knife. There were no reports of a motive.
Iowa State Representative Adam Zapner told Reuters that his brother was one of the victims from Cornell College in Iowa.
Police have launched a manhunt for Cui Daping, a resident of Jilin city, whom they have identified as the “prime suspect” in the stabbing, according to the Chinese government.
Four visiting Cornell College teachers were brutally stabbed in an attack in China on Tuesday morning. The teachers were on a teaching exchange program with a partner university, Beihua, in the city of Jilin
David Zabner, pictured, was injured in the arm during the stabbing attack, according to his brother, Iowa Rep. Adam Zabner.
“My brother, David Zabner, was injured in the arm during a stabbing attack while visiting a temple in Jilin, China,” Zabner said.
I spoke with David…he is recovering from his injuries and doing well. My family is so grateful that David survived this attack.
A video of people lying on the ground in a park covered in blood circulated on X on Monday, although no trace of the images was found on Chinese social media.
Reuters was able to determine the location of the video based on the Chinese characters written on the wall, the structure of the wall, and the layout of the route, but was unable to confirm when the video was filmed.
A US State Department spokesperson said in an emailed statement that they are aware of reports of a “stabbing incident” in Jilin, China, and are monitoring the situation.
Police have launched a manhunt for Cui Dapeng, (pictured) a resident of Jilin city whom they have identified as the “prime suspect” in the stabbing, according to a WeChat alert issued by the Foreign NGO Administration Office of China under the Ministry of Public Safety.
China's Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations Administration Office under the Ministry of Public Safety issued an alert on the WeChat social media platform confirming the incident, which they say occurred on Monday at around 11.40am in Bishan Park.
The notice identified Dapeng as the alleged suspect in the case, and advised the Department of Public Safety to distribute the warrant to all police forces. Officials encouraged Dapeng to be arrested if he is found.
The notice also claimed that the victims suffered injuries of “varying degrees” and were taken to hospital. Their conditions are not life-threatening, according to the government agency.
No reports of the incident were found in Chinese media. Some remaining posts on Chinese social media platform Weibo questioned widespread censorship of the incident in state media.
“Do they really think that censoring local discussion of the incident affects whether or not foreigners choose to visit China?” one Weibo user posted.
Xi Jinping, then Vice President of the People's Republic of China, sits with Sarah and Roger Land (right) on February 15, 2012 in Muscatine, Iowa. In 1985, Land helped coordinate a visit to Muscatine for a delegation headed by Shi, then a rising official in the pig-farming region of Hebei Province, which was Iowa's “sister state.”
The teachers were from Cornell College on a teaching exchange program with a partner university, Beihua, in the city of Jilin.
“We are working through the appropriate channels and are asking to speak with the U.S. Embassy on appropriate matters to ensure that victims first receive quality care for their injuries and are then exited China in a medically feasible manner,” Iowa Congressional Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks said. Written on X.
Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged this year to invite 50,000 young Americans to China to attend study programs to enhance people-to-people relations, but the State Department's Level 3 travel advisory for China warning of the possibility of arbitrary detention and exit bans remains in place.
There are currently fewer than 900 American exchange students studying in China compared to more than 290,000 Chinese students in the United States, according to US data.
