US university on alert after Chinese student found dead
By Shan Xin
People's Daily app
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File Photo 

Chinese graduate student Zhang Chuanchuan was found dead at Brandeis University in Boston, Massachusetts on Nov 20, according to a "Sad News" email from the university's president, who expressed his deepest condolences.

Zhang served as a teaching assistant and tutor at the university's Brandeis International Business School.

The Chinese Consulate General in New York has informed Zhang's family and a community gathering was to be held on Tuesday to remember Zhang.

School authorities said the cause of the death is still under investigation.

The university issued an emergency warning of an armed subject on campus on Twitter and on its website a few hours after Zhang’s death. Students were required to take shelter in the nearest room with doors and windows locked and cell phones silenced until the area was deemed clear by authorities.

Several tragedies involving Chinese students abroad recently have sparked an uproar in China over the safety of students, whose country is the world's largest source of international students.

Brendt Christensen has been charged for kidnapping 26-year-old Chinese visiting scholar Zhang Yingying in Champaign, Illinois in the US while Jiang Ge, a postgraduate  student at Hosei University in Japan, was stabbed to death by her roommate's ex-boyfriend in Tokyo.

Educators and security specialists have urged Chinese students studying overseas to hone their safety awareness as cultural differences and an unfamiliar environment make it crucial for them to stay alert on potential security risks.