Flurry of mass casualty attacks in China causes alarm

Shanghai: Two high-profile mass killings and a car crash at a primary school in just over a week are raising questions about how well-equipped China is to deal with the stresses of a slowing economy and related mental-health issues.

Since November 11, the country has reeled from news of a driver reportedly angry at his divorce settlement killing 35 people by ramming his car into a crowd in Zhuhai; a former student on a stabbing rampage at a vocational college in Wuxi, killing eight; and a car ploughing into a crowd of school children and pedestrians in the city of Changde on Tuesday.

It was not clear if the incident in Changde was caused deliberately. However, police said they had arrested the driver and investigations were in progress.

A woman lights a candle outside the “Zhuhai People’s Fitness Plaza” where a man deliberately rammed his car into people exercising at the sports centre on November 11.Credit: AP

The events have led to a spike in worries about the overall health of society in China, where mass casualty attacks have occurred with alarming regularity throughout 2024. There have been nine so far this year, compared with six in total in the preceding decade.

In the Zhuhai and Wuxi cases, brief statements made public by police about the suspects indicate these attacks were perpetrated by men lashing out against unrelated bystanders after suffering an economic loss.

As the economy slows, employment opportunities are more precarious and fewer people are being lifted by China’s long-running economic miracle. The repercussions on mental health from such economic pressures are growing, experts say.

A rare public candlelight vigil held for victims of a mass stabbing in China in September.Credit: Screenshot

George Magnus, associate at Oxford University’s China Centre and the author of Red Flags: Why Xi’s China is in Jeopardy, says the spate of mass casualty incidents in China “speak to a pattern, rather than an aberration”.

Research by the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies in July identified a widespread perception in China that lack of success was attributable to unfairness and systemic causes.

“I think this goes a long way in explaining the social and industrial malaise evident in the spate of incidents, and sends out warning signals about the state of society,” Magnus said.

Xiaojie Qin, a Beijing-based psychotherapist and director at mental health non-profit CandleX, says that a pervasive sense of societal unfairness and disparity can lead in extreme cases to violence against random bystanders.

“Some people who were left behind and socially and economically more marginalised can feel they are not being treated fairly, and some people who don’t have enough emotional regulation, they have outbursts, sometimes violent outbursts,” she said.

Censorship heightens concern

China’s official crime statistics show that its rates of violent crime are much lower than global averages. But the recent spate of incidents has raised questions about public safety in a country where citizens have long been proud of streets safe from violence.

The widespread censorship of discussion around the attacks has also appeared to heighten concerns as more people question the veracity of information they are receiving from official sources, analysts said.

“It can exacerbate societal fears and distrust of the government within China, particularly if seemingly random, large-scale violent incidents persist as they have this year,” said Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

Qu Weiguo, a Fudan University professor, said the recent cases of “indiscriminate revenge against society” in China had some common features: disadvantaged suspects, many with mental health issues, who believed that they had been treated unfairly and who felt they had no other way to be heard.

In an essay posted, then quickly censored, on social media, Qu wrote that while counselling support could ease the problem, better ways of upholding individual rights could also provide an outlet for the aggrieved.

“The lack of access to mental health services is one reason disaffected people resort to violence, but the lack of an independent legal system that protects individuals’ rights over the interests of the party or government results in a lack of trust and faith in the courts,” Thompson added.

According to Sami Wong, a psychotherapist and managing director of 3Drips Psychology, a research firm, China has responded to higher incidences of psychological distress in recent years – for example stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic – with increased investments in mental health infrastructure.

But while many qualified therapists have emerged in China, people remain reluctant to reach out for help, more than elsewhere in the world, because of what they see as the stigma attached to mental health issues, she said.

“A lot of people still have this social stigma about seeking therapeutic help. So even though the resources are there, they’re very reluctant to use it,” she said.

A brief history of mass attacks in China

• May 22, 2014 – Urumqi, Xinjiang: Four men drive two SUVs into crowds of shoppers in a busy market and throw explosives out of the car windows, killing themselves and 39 others.
• September 30–October 1, 2015 – Liuzhou: In a series of bombings, a 33-year-old man kills himself and 10 people and injures 51 during a water festival. He had sent more than a dozen package bombs to shopping malls, hospitals and government buildings.
• January 5, 2016 – Yinchuan: A man carries out an arson attack on a bus, killing 17 people and injuring 32.
• September 12, 2018 – Hengyan: A man rams his car into a crowd in a public square and attacks people at the scene with a folding shovel and a dagger, killing 11 and injuring 44. According to the police, the suspect had been convicted multiple times for drug trafficking, theft and harming others, which led to a “desire for revenge against society”.
• July 7, 2020 – Anshun: A 52-year-old man drives a bus into a lake, killing 21 people and injuring 15. According to police, the bus driver was dissatisfied with his life and resentful over the demolition of public housing he rented.
• January 11, 2023 – Guanzhou: A 22-year-old man drives into a crowd in the business district, causing five deaths and 13 injuries. According to the court, the suspect had huge debts and had carried out the crime to “vent personal emotions”.
• June 11, 2024 – Jilin: A 55-year-old man wounds four American instructors from a small Iowa university with a knife in a public park. The officials take more than 24 hours to disclose the attack and Chinese social media is scrubbed of the images.
• June 24, 2024 – Suzhou: An unemployed man in his 50s wounds three people with a knife on a bus. A Japanese boy and his mother are injured and a Chinese employee who tried to protect the students dies. State media and major social media platforms condemn “extreme nationalism” after the attack.
• September 18, 2024 – Shenzhen: A 10-year-old Japanese student is fatally stabbed on his way to school by a 44-year-old unemployed man. The attack takes place on the anniversary of an incident in 1931 that triggered war between China and Japan.
• September 30, 2024 – Shanghai: In a suburban supermarket, a 37-year-old man kills three people and injures 15 in a knife attack. According to an initial investigation by the police, the suspect had travelled to Shanghai to vent his anger following a personal financial dispute.
• October 8, 2024 – Guangzhou: A 60-year-old man attacks people with a knife outside a primary school, injuring three people, including two pupils. The suspect was previously convicted of attempted murder for stabbing his ex-girlfriend and released from prison in March after serving his sentence.
• October 28, 2024 – Beijing: A 50-year-old man wounds five people including three minors in a knife attack near one of the city’s top primary schools in Haidian at home time.
• November 11, 2024 – Zhuhai: A 62-year-old man kills 35 people and severely injures 43 by driving a car into a crowd at a sports centre. Police say he was upset about the split of assets in his divorce settlement.
• November 16, 2024 – Wuxi: A former student goes on a stabbing rampage at a vocational college, killing eight people and injuring 17. Police say he was angry over not getting his graduation certificate and failing an exam.
• November 19, 2024 – Changde: A driver in an SUV ploughs into students and pedestrians outside a primary school, leaving several people injured. It was not immediately clear if it was intentional.

Source: Reuters

Reuters

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