Recent weeks have seen a surge of indiscriminate violent incidents in China. Following the tragic event in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, where a vehicle plowed into a crowd causing 35 deaths and 43 injuries, and the case of a Jiangsu Wuxi Institute of Technology graduate who stabbed and killed 8 people while injuring 17 others, a deliberate vehicular ramming incident occurred at a primary school in Yong’an, Hunan Province on the 19th.
Authorities have intensified stability maintenance efforts in response to these violent incidents, but some in the public believe that the focus should be on stress relief and de-escalation, although such sentiments have been censored. Experts warn that the Chinese Communist Party’s emphasis on high-pressure stability maintenance, prioritizing containment over de-escalation, could lead to an increase in similar tragic events.
In the aftermath of the Zhuhai incident, details in the police reports were altered, obscuring information about the suspect’s prior legal disputes and dissatisfaction with court rulings.
On the evening of November 16, at the Wuxi Institute of Technology in Yixing, Jiangsu, a 21-year-old graduate, Xu Jiajin, indiscriminately attacked fellow students with a knife. Official reports attributed the attack to the suspect’s inability to obtain his graduation certificate and dissatisfaction with internship compensation. However, information from alleged insiders revealed a series of unknown factors, including alleged mistreatment by school authorities leading to the suspect being driven to desperation, with their family’s attempts to seek help through official channels reportedly being ignored.
Following the Zhuhai tragedy, Chinese leader Xi Jinping ordered a crackdown on various forms of violent incidents. This was soon followed by extensive screenings of individuals labeled as “undesirables” and “lost” citizens across different regions.
Meanwhile, articles advocating for authorities to understand the pressures faced by the Chinese populace and to alleviate them were censored by the Chinese government. Scholars such as Professor Qu Weiguo from the School of Foreign Languages at Fudan University called for greater transparency in power usage for supervision and exposure; Professor Xu Jilin, a distinguished professor at East China Normal University, highlighted the need for society to provide appropriate safety mechanisms to allow for legitimate release of pent-up frustrations. However, their voices were silenced, indicating a lack of avenues for free expression in China.
Historian Li Yuanhua, based in Australia, stated to Epoch Times that various grievances in Chinese society remain unresolved, leading minor issues to escalate into severe events. He emphasized that the Chinese regime tends to resort to violence, instilling a belief in the public that violence is an acceptable form of expression when faced with injustices.
Li pointed out that the regime’s focus on stability maintenance fails to address the actual concerns of the people, opting for containment rather than de-escalation. The increased surveillance and control measures have not deterred the rising trend of violent incidents, suggesting the ineffectiveness of this approach.
CEO of the Taiwan Inspire Association (TIA), Lai Rongwei, criticized the governance strategy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which heavily relies on authoritarian control and nationalism. With economic struggles and a shift towards aggressive nationalism, sentiments of anger have spread, leading to indiscriminate attacks within Chinese society and potentially breeding domestic terrorism.
Lai highlighted that the CCP targets individuals without income, family support, housing, or those with mental health issues for strict surveillance as a means of suppressing dissent.
Former Taipei Bureau Chief of Japan’s Sankei Shimbun, Yoshiita Akio, mentioned on Facebook the recent online discussions in China about the “Zhang Xianzhong phenomenon,” attributing it to the lack of channels for public expression.
Zhang Xianzhong, a rebel leader during the late Ming Dynasty, resorted to indiscriminate violence towards those weaker than himself when faced with imminent defeat. This historical reference has been evoked on the internet to symbolize individuals who engage in random attacks as a form of social retaliation.
Yoshiita pointed out that local governments, in a bid to demonstrate stability to Xi Jinping, have intensified crackdowns on citizens petitioning in Beijing. For those truly in distress, the avenue of petitioning for justice has been effectively blocked, leaving them without recourse and driving them to despair.
Quoting from a passage by Laozi, “When the people are not afraid of dying, what can be done to instill fear in them?” Yoshiita argued that severe punishments lose their deterrent effect when people face such dire living conditions and resort to extreme measures. Without economic recovery, incidents of vengeful violence are likely to continue in Chinese society.