The Chinese city of Suzhou near Shanghai honored Hu Youping with a "righteous and courageous role model" certificate Tuesday after she died saving a Japanese mother and her son in a knife attack last week, the country's media said.
Top officials of the Jiangsu Province city, home to many Japanese nationals and production facilities, commended her heroism in a memorial ceremony. Hu, who worked as an attendant on a Japanese school bus, was stabbed multiple times while attempting to restrain the assailant, who also injured the two Japanese.
According to an online news site run by Hong Kong's Phoenix TV, Hu, a 54-year-old Suzhou resident, was known as a very kind and caring person devoted to her family.
Hailing from the Jiangsu city of Huaian, she moved to Suzhou at the age of 20 and worked at a textile factory. She later got married and had a son.
In 2020, Hu opened a store selling cosmetic items but it struggled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually failed. She finally landed a job as a Japanese school bus attendant.
Japanese mothers who live along the bus route brought flowers to the bus stop where the stabbing took place, to mourn her. The Japanese school also organized a memorial ceremony, according to the report.
"Our principal cried uncontrollably, and all Japanese mothers present also cried," a parent was quoted as saying.
While many praised Hu for her actions, some posted harassing comments on social media, labeling her as a "traitor" for trying to save the Japanese and praising the attacker for his patriotism, according to The Global Times, a tabloid affiliated with the Communist Party.
Multiple internet platforms including the operators of Weibo, China's equivalent of X, and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, have begun regulating "extreme resentful remarks that incite nationalism and spread hatred against Japan," according to the report.
The measures taken by the platforms, including removing abusive posts and shutting down accounts, are believed to reflect the Chinese authority's will, the newspaper said.
