WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT The tutors were visiting a public park in China when they were attacked. A US congresswoman said she was trying to reach the US Embassy to ensure the victims get good health care and return to the US as soon as possible
Four US college tutors who were “brutally stabbed” while visiting a public park in China remain in hospital following an unprovoked attack.
In a statement, Cornell College President Jonathan Brand revealed that the instructors were accompanied by a faculty member from Beihua University at the time of the attack. The private school in Mount Vernon has a partnership with Beihua University near Jilin City in eastern China, according to Cornell spokesperson Jen Visser.
The specifics of the attack, the severity of the instructors’ injuries, and whether the assault was targeted or random remained unclear as of Monday. Visser stated that the college is still gathering information about the incident.
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Representative Ashley Hinson, of Iowa, said: “Horrified that multiple Cornell College faculty members were brutally stabbed in China. My team has been in communication with Cornell College and will do everything in our power to bring these Iowans home safely.”
Iowa Representative Adam Zabner said his brother, David, is among the injured. He said that the group of four had been to a local temple on Monday when they were stabbed by a man with a knife.
This incident comes at a time when both Beijing and Washington are striving to maintain people-to-people exchanges to strengthen relations amidst tensions over trade and international issues such as Taiwan, the South China Sea, and the war in Ukraine.
Visser reiterated that Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, maintains a partnership with Beihua University. A 2018 news release from the college, marking the start of the programme, states that Beihua provides funding for Cornell professors to travel to China to teach sections of courses in computer science, mathematics, and physics over a two-week period.
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Beihua University in China boasts of employing American teaching methods and resources to provide engineering students with an international outlook and proficiency in English, as per a 2020 announcement on their website.
The university’s specific programme utilises U. S. textbooks for about one-third of its core courses, which are delivered by American lecturers. Students have the opportunity to spend half of their four-year course at Cornell College in the United States, earning degrees from both institutions upon completion.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced ambitions to welcome 50,000 young Americans to China over the next five years. However, Chinese officials have expressed concerns that a travel advisory from the U.S. State Department is deterring Americans from visiting.
The State Department has raised a Level 3 travel advisory against mainland China, citing random detentions and exit bans that could bar Americans from leaving. This second-highest warning level advises US citizens to “reconsider travel” to China. Following the advisory, several American universities have put their China exchange programmes on hold.
