Cornell college instructors attacked in China reunited with family

All four Cornell College instructors stabbed last week in the northeast China city of Jilin have been reunited with family members or continued with their previously scheduled summer travel plans, according to the college.

Jonathan Brand, Cornell’s president, sent out a brief statement Tuesday updating those on campus.

“Many individuals and organizations of diverse expertise, both in China and the United States, have contributed to the care of our instructors,” Brand said in the statement. “We appreciate the support from our colleagues at Beihua University, and we have thanked our state and federal legislators as well as the Department of State for their efforts to assist our instructors and their families.”

The instructors were teaching as part of a partnership program between the Mount Vernon college and Beihua University in China when they were attacked walking in a public park on June 10.

The instructors had been accompanied by a faculty member from Beihua at the time of the attack. No students from the small liberal arts college were taking part in the program at the time, according to the college.

Jilin City police said last week that a 55-year-old suspect had been arrested. Authorities identified the suspect only by his last name, Cui. Police said he “collided with a foreigner while walking” in Beishan Park. The suspect then stabbed the instructors, as well as a Chinese tourist who stepped forward in an attempt to intervene, police said in a statement.

The statement did not give any indication of the motive for the attack.

The injured were taken to a hospital for treatment. China's Foreign Ministry last week said that none of the foreign nationals were critically injured in what it said appeared to be “an isolated incident based on preliminary assessment.”

The attack happened as Chinese and U.S. officials seek to expand people-to-people exchanges to help bolster relations amid tensions over trade, Taiwan, the South China Sea and the war in Ukraine.

Cornell spokeswoman Jen Visser declined to comment on the partnership program between Cornell College and Beihua University on Tuesday.

Visser said college officials and the instructors injured were not willing to speak with media about the attack.

Iowa City native and Cornell instructor David Zabner was discharged from the hospital in Jilin City last Wednesday and flew into Cedar Rapids late Thursday to reunite with family.

Zabner, a doctoral student at Tufts University who previously taught at Cornell, was stabbed in the arm while visiting a temple at Beishan Park.

A family member on Tuesday said he was not willing to speak with media.

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