Canberra on edge after woman randomly bashed and threatened with a knife by another female in vile racist attack

By MATT JONES, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 01:47, 4 April 2026 | Updated: 01:49, 4 April 2026 What started out as a racist slur turned into a life-threatening situation for a Chinese woman who was left covered in blood after a nasty assault in Canberra. The 27-year-old, identified only as KK Zhang, was walking with a friend in the nation's capital on Thursday when she was allegedly punched in the head by a another female on Macdermott Place in Belconnen at 5.45pm. Ms Zhang said she didn't know the alleged offender who eventually threatened her with a knife before taking off in a dark grey Ford Falcon sedan. She claimed the incident started when a teenage girl and a young boy, possibly the woman's kids, hurled racist abuse at her and ridiculed her Chinese speech. Ms Zhang said she confronted the children and recorded the slurs directed towards her before the woman came up from behind and took her phone, leading to a physical altercation. The woman was allegedly armed with a large knife, about 30 to 40cm long, which she pointed at Ms Zhang while making threats. Ms Zhang's friend pulled her away but not before she was left covered in blood with non-life-threatening injuries.  'But even as they got into the car, they were still smirking at us and making rude gestures, including giving us the middle finger,' Ms Zhang told 7News. Ms Zhang was left bloodied by the incident in Canberra Her wounds were cleaned up but she bled heavily from the ear and nose The incident happened in the Canberra suburb of Belconnen on Thursday  'She was punching me, and I think her nails scratched me. I ended up with a 5mm cut on my face and bruising on my arms.' Ms Zhang's left ear and nose were bleeding and she said the experience left her 'terrified' and shaken. Ms Zhang, who arrived in Australia in 2022, said she now feared for her safety in Canberra and avoids strangers while out. 'I had always thought Canberra was safe, with not much violence, until I experienced this myself,' she said. Police are still investigating the alleged assault and have appealed to anyone who witnessed the incident to call Crime Stoppers. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.