This photo taken on Feb. 29, 2024, shows a woman sitting on a bench looking at Chunggang County North Korea in Linjiang in the province of Jilin, northeast China. North Korean soldiers gaze across an icy river towards China, occasionally descending from looming watchtowers to prowl border paths behind barbed wire and sharpened sticks. This remote stretch of frontier was virtually inaccessible to reporters while Beijing and Pyongyang upheld some of the world's strictest pandemic-era travel curbs. After the restrictions were unwound, an AFP team travelled to the region in late February -- peering back at the guards standing sentry at the entrance to the secretive nuclear nation. Between rusting factories and peeling housing blocks were glimpses of everyday life, as North Koreans eked out their living by hauling timber and burning crop fields. In one town, two goods trucks waited patiently on a bridge into China -- a sign of resumption in the cross-border trade crucial to Pyongyang's moribund economy. North Korea's chronic food shortages are believed to have grown more acute during the pandemic, and campaigners say authorities have strengthened border defences to prevent escapes to its vast, wealthy neighbour. Beyond the eagle-eyed guards, portraits of the ruling Kim dynasty watched over the populace, while monumental propaganda banners lauded their socialist ideology. One slogan, written in huge red and white letters on a hillside, simply blared: "Our country is the best!" (Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

China said an incident involving four teachers from a U.S. college who were stabbed while walking in a park shouldn’t affect ties between the two nations.

“We believe that the isolated incident will not disrupt normal cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Tuesday at a regular press briefing in Beijing. China “will continue to take relevant measures to protect the safety of foreign nationals,” Lin said.

The attack occurred on June 10 in Jilin, a city of some 4.1 million people in China’s rust belt, local police said in a statement on Tuesday. The police said that a suspect, a local man, was detained on the same day while those injured — including one Chinese person — received medical treatment. Lin said that none of the four educators was in a critical condition.

A video clip posted on social media showed three people using their phones while lying on the ground waiting for an ambulance afterward. One had blood on his side and lower back while another was holding an apparent injury to his back.

Cornell College President President Jonathan Brand said in a statement the teachers were visiting as part of a collaboration with a Chinese university. Cornell College, which is in the U.S. state of Iowa, signed an agreement with Beihua University in Jilin city in 2018 to provide teachers for short periods.

A State Department spokesman said in an emailed statement that the U.S. was aware of the incident and monitoring the situation.

The episode could be a setback for Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s push to step up exchanges between China and the U.S. Relations soured early last year after Washington accused Beijing of floating a spy balloon over the U.S. President Joe Biden later ordered the aircraft to be shot down over the Atlantic Ocean, a move China blasted as an overreaction.

The two superpowers have worked to repair their relationship, though differences remain over China’s exports, Taiwan’s status and more.

During a meeting with Biden in the U.S. in November last year, Xi announced a plan to welcome 50,000 American students to China over the next five years. And last week, Xi called for more exchanges between Chinese and American universities to boost mutual understanding.

The stabbings could undermine that fence-mending, especially if there’s a backlash in the U.S. over the stabbing incident.

Many posts on Chinese social media about the incident were quickly removed on Tuesday, including one from Hu Xijin, the former editor of Chinese state-backed Global Times newspaper.

The removals were likely due to China’s censors blocking discussion of the topic because it undercuts a claim made by diplomats — including Lin on Tuesday — that the nation is the safest in the world.

—With assistance from Jing Li, Ocean Hou and Li Liu.