CHINA: China suffers new school killings

Page last updated at 04:13 GMT, Wednesday, 12 May 2010

Seven children have been hacked to death in north-western China in the latest in a series of violent attacks on schools, state media report.

At least 20 others were injured after the attack in Hanzhong city in Shaanxi province, Xinhua news agency reported, citing local authorities.

China has been shaken by a spate of attacks on schools in recent weeks.

In March, a man stabbed to death eight pupils at a school in Fujian province, and several similar attacks followed.

THIS YEAR'S ATTACKS

12 May: Seven children killed and 20 hurt in Hanzhong, Shaanxi province

30 April: Five children hurt in hammer attack in Weifang, Shandong

29 April: Three adults and 28 children injured in Taixing, Jiangsu

28 April: At least 15 children and one teacher injured in Leizhou, Guangdong

24 March: Eight children killed in Nanping, Fujian

A doctor was convicted of the Fujian attack and executed.

But in the space of a week in late April, three more attacks in different parts of China left dozens of children injured.

Motives for the attacks are not known, although officials have speculated that the incidents in late April were likely to be copycat attacks.

Hanzhong city official Liu Xiaoming told the Associated Press news agency that the man who carried out the killings in Hanzhong had killed himself afterwards. This has not been independently confirmed.

Last month, the education ministry ordered all schools to upgrade their security facilities, teach students about safety and ensure that young children were escorted home.

But correspondents say such measures are expensive and their effectiveness is unproven.

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JAPAN: Man arrested for threatening to kill Japan's Princess Aiko

(L-R) Crown Prince Naruhito, Princess Aiko and Princess Masako

Posted: 12 May 2010 0026 hrs

By Channel NewsAsia's Japan Bureau Chief Michiyo Ishida

TOKYO : A 26-year-old unemployed man in Japan has been arrested for threatening to kill Princess Aiko - the daughter of Crown Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako.

Kengo Inami had posted a message on a popular internet forum, threatening to kill the princess with a hammer.

He is reported to have told investigators that he enjoyed the reactions of those who accessed the forum.

The incident comes at a time when the princess is making headlines of her own.

The daughter of Japan's crown prince and princess is still missing classes, two months after she stopped going to school because of bullying.

The shy eight-year-old attends Gakushuin Primary in Tokyo.

It was in March that the Imperial Household Agency held an unprecedented news conference saying that Princess Aiko cannot attend classes regularly due to worries and stomach pains. It's believed to be due to some aggressive boys in her school.

Princess Aiko has entered third grade, with the start of the new academic year in April.

According to the Imperial Household, she has missed some classes, as she's not able to attend a full day of school.

Since the term began, she has also stayed away from school for three days because of a cold.

"I think there is basically no problem with Princess Aiko. She is just a student of an elementary school. Sometimes we don't want to go to school for a period of time. It's quite natural especially if something is going on in the classroom," said Daisaburo Hashizume, Professor of Sociology at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Professor Hashizume, who has written about the imperial family, said the situation has been made worse by media reports.

And even though Gakushuin is a private school, founded to educate children of aristocrats, it is now open to all.

"She has a special position in the royalty. Just imagine when you're born a member of the royal family and attend regular elementary school. The family itself is a very unique one," said Professor Hashizume.

The birth of Prince Hisahito in 2006 to Princess Aiko's uncle, took some pressure off her family.

The baby boy is now third in line to the throne.

Before that, the government had deliberated changing the Imperial Household Law to allow women to ascend to the throne.

The debate generated huge public interest, and some critics believe the issue could be raised again in the future.

That could add more pressure on the princess and her mother Masako, who is still recovering from what's been called an adjustment disorder. - CNA /ls

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