In a southern Chinese metropolis, a man apparently deliberately drove into a crowd and killed 35 people. A harsh punishment is required for the perpetrator. But criticism of the authorities is also loud.
People in China have reacted with sadness and anger to the deaths of 35 people who were hit by a driver in the southern Chinese metropolis of Zhuhai. The day after the crime was announced, social networks were full of comments expressing disbelief and calling for a harsh punishment for the 62-year-old driver. In Zhuhai, people laid flowers at the sports center where the targeted collision occurred.
“He deserves the death penalty,” wrote one user on the social network Weibo. “What motivated him to do such an inhumane act?” asked another. Many compared the man’s actions to terrorism. According to information from the security authorities the day before, preliminary investigations indicate that the crime, in which 43 people were injured, had a personal background.
Criticism of censorship and authorities
The driver was unhappy about the division of assets after his divorce. He intentionally broke through the gate of a municipal sports center with a small off-road vehicle and hit people who were training there. As he fled, the man was immediately caught by the police. He also inflicted serious injuries on himself with a knife, which is why he could not be questioned.
There was criticism of the authorities’ actions. Although the incident had already occurred on Monday evening, it took around 24 hours for security authorities to announce that people had died. Both some media reports about the incident and comments on social media were initially suppressed by censors immediately after the crime. «A man in Zhuhai killed 35 people in an act that occurred yesterday. I only found out today,” said one user on Weibo angrily.
Repeated attacks lately
Others linked the censorship measures to an international aviation exhibition currently taking place in Zhuhai, where the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is also showing its latest aircraft. It was speculated that this should not be overshadowed by bad news.
There has been a recent increase in attacks in China, with attackers apparently targeting members of the public at random. In October, a man was arrested after allegedly attacking children with a knife at a school in Beijing. Five people were injured. In September, three people were killed and 15 others were injured in a knife attack at a supermarket in Shanghai.
Foreign citizens have also been victims of attacks several times this year. In June, several lecturers at a US university in northeast China were stabbed by a man in a park. In the same month there was also an attack on a Japanese woman and her child in Suzhou, eastern China. In September, a man attacked a Japanese student on his way to school in Shenzhen, southern China, and fatally injured him with a knife.
