China executed two men responsible for two deadly attacks in one week last November.
Fan Weiqiu, 62, killed at least 35 people and injured dozens more. I drove towards the people exercising. outside the Zhuhai Stadium in what is believed to be the deadliest attack on Chinese soil in the past decade.
A few days later, Xu Jiajin, 21, killed eight people and injured 17 others. There was a shooting at his college. It is located in the eastern city of Wuxi.
Authorities said Ms Fan was driven by “dissatisfaction” with how her assets were divided following her divorce, while Mr Xu carried out the attack “after failing to obtain a diploma due to poor exam results”.
Fan was detained at the scene on November 11 and found with self-inflicted wounds.
Last December, he was found guilty of “endangering public safety”, with the court describing his motives as “extremely evil” and his “methods” as “particularly cruel”.
His execution Monday came less than a month after a court sentenced him to death.
In Xu’s case, police said he confessed to his crimes “without hesitation” on November 16. He was sentenced to death on December 17, with the court finding the circumstances of his crimes “particularly bad” and “extremely serious”.
China has been grappling with a recent surge in public violence, and many attackers are believed to be motivated by the desire to: “Take revenge on society” – When the perpetrator targets strangers due to personal grievances.
The number of such attacks across China reached 19 in 2024.
Just days after the Zhuhai and Wuxi attacks, a man drove his car into a crowd outside an elementary school in the city of Changde, injuring 30 of them.
Authorities said the man, Huang Wen, wanted to vent his anger after suffering investment losses and family conflicts.
Hwang Eun Sentenced to suspended death sentence Last month – his sentence could be reduced to life in prison if he does not commit another crime within the next two years.
Analysts previously told the BBC: The series of mass killings has raised questions about how the Chinese people have coped with various stressors, including China’s weak economy.
Some of them point out that over the past few years, outlets for venting frustration have narrowed or closed off altogether, making it difficult for people to find ways to deal with their emotions.
Taken together, these factors suggest that the lid on Chinese society is closing, creating a pressure cooker-like situation.
“Tensions seem to be rising, and there doesn’t seem to be any chance of them easing in the near future,” said George Magnus, an economist at the China Center at the University of Oxford.
