Chinese court gives death penalty to man who killed Japanese boy

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Chinese court gives death penalty to man who killed Japanese boy

A woman lays a bouquet of flowers outside Shenzhen Japanese School following the murder of a 10-year-old Japanese child who was on his way to the school, in Shenzhen in September. | Reuters

By Gabriele Ninivaggi and Francis Tang
STAFF WRITERS

Jan 24, 2025

A Chinese court sentenced a man to death Friday over his killing of a Japanese schoolboy in the city of Shenzhen in September, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

In order to attract attention on the internet, Zhong Changchun, a 45-year-old man from Jiangxi province, stabbed the boy on Sept. 18 last year after buying a tool with a sharp edge, and then called the media to tell of his crime, the verdict issued by the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court read, calling the act a “highly heinous and serious crime, worthy of capital punishment.”

Zhong was arrested at the scene soon after the murder, which occurred approximately 200 meters from the school that the boy attended, according to a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry at the time.