Zhuhai residents offered flowers to commemorate 35 victims killed in a car ramming attack on November 11th, 2024. Screenshot from BBC Chinese channel on YouTube.

In less than two weeks, three random mass killings unfolded in Chinese coastal cities. Each of the attacks were reportedly driven by social discontent, leading to discussions on the increasing social tension in China.

Given that China has already implemented very strict security measures, including security checkpoints and security cameras with facial recognition systems, people wonder if the state's social control machinery is still capable of handling the increasing number of random attacks triggered by unresolvable grievances during an economic downturn.

The first incident took place on November 11th outside a sports centre in Zhuhai, a southern Chinese coastal city, wherein a car rammed into a crowd, leaving 35 dead and 43 injured. The driver was a 62-year-old man who was angry over a court ruling on the division of property during his divorce, according to the Zhuhai police’s media briefing.

The second incident took place on November 16th inside a vocational school in Wuxi, an eastern Chinese city, wherein a 21-year-old student stabbed eight people to death and injured 17. 

The third incident happened on November 19 — a car rammed into pedestrians outside a primary school in Changde of Hunan province:

After the horrific Zhuhai rampage and Wuxi school stabbing, yet another “collision” incident (撞人事件) occurred at a primary school in Changde this Tuesday morning. Many students injured, casualties unknown at this time. (Viewer discretion advised) pic.twitter.com/nfcNOnyuPU

— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) November 19, 2024

After the Zhuhai incident, the Chinese government suppressed all related discussions on social media. At the same time, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged for severe punishment of the assailant and instructed the local governments to prevent similar incidents from ocurring by addressing social conflicts and disputes before they escalate into extreme acts. 

Yet, within one week, another random killing occurred. This time, the assailant left an online note saying that he committed the act because of the injustice and exploitation he faced in his factory job:

当雪崩的时候，没有一片雪花是无辜的。所有人其实都是一个整体，一个人的不幸就是所有人的不幸… 对于厂里恶意拖欠我工资，不给我买保险，不给我加班费，罚我的款，不给我赔偿金。厂里的工人每天生死轮回两班倒或三班倒，一天工作16个小时，一个月没有一天休息… 我看到了工厂对工人无情的压榨与剥削。…我宁可死也不愿再被压榨与剥削，我希望以我的死推动劳动法的进步。还有学校恶意扣我毕业证，不让我毕业，…你们太欺负我了，所有的人都在欺负我，别以为我是老实人，有些账总要清算的，我要用生命去战斗，我将彻底洗刷我的耻辱，我要揭开暴露这个事情。

When an avalanche occurs, no snowflake is innocent. All people are connected as a whole; one person's misfortune is the misfortune of all people… The factory maliciously withheld my salary, did not buy me insurance, did not pay me overtime, fined me, and did not give me compensation. Workers in the factory work in hell every day for two or three shifts, 16 hours a day, without a day off in a month… I have seen the relentless oppression and exploitation of workers in the factory… I would rather die than be oppressed and exploited again, and I hope that my death will push the labour law forward. There is also the school that maliciously withheld my diploma and prevented me from graduating… You bullied me too much; all of you bullied me. Don't you see me as dumb, some scores must be settled, I'm going to fight with my life, I'm going to wash away my shame completely, I'm going to unveil and expose these matters.

Despite the state's stringent social control, random and mass murders have been a frequent occurrence in China. An academic study published in 2022 indicated that between 2004 and 2017, about half of the world’s mass stabbing incidents occurred in China.

In recent years, as China has suffered from an economic downturn, the rate of random mass attacks has soared. As the assailants have no specific targets in their murder attempts, most Chinese media outlets have labelled such crimes “an act of taking revenge on society” (報復社會行為). 

On Weibo, China's largest social media platform, many asked if the Chinese government can effectively stop the crime as the act is “irrational” and suicidal. Law professor Lao Dongyan, for example, wrote: 

近期连续出现以极端暴力无差别攻击不特定多数人的犯罪行为。无论当事人有什么理由，这样的行为本质上等同于恐怖袭击，都绝对不可原谅，应当严厉打击并严加谴责。同时，此类事件也向我们提出了这样一个问题：当一个人抱着必死之心实施极端的反社会行为，刑罚的威慑对其不再有作用，此时应当采取什么样的有效措施来应对？

There has been a spate of criminal acts involving indiscriminate attacks on common people with extreme violence. Regardless of the reasons given by the persons concerned, such acts, which are essentially tantamount to terrorist attacks, are absolutely inexcusable and should be vigorously combated and severely condemned. At the same time, such incidents also raise the question of what kind of effective measures should be taken when a person commits extreme antisocial acts at the expense of their own life when the deterrent effect of penalties are no longer effective against them.

Under Professor Lao’s comment thread, some echoed the official line of harsh punishment, while others called for freedom of expression so that people could express their grievances and the authorities could address their pain in time. Some also suggested economic reform to boost the employment rate and policy reform, such as social welfare and labour laws, to improve working conditions. In short, people need to see hope for their future. 

On X (formerly Twitter), @sbtuite2222, sees says political reform will be a major source of hope: 

对社会怀有怨恨的人实施的被称为“社会报复”的犯罪行为正在增加。无论增加多少监控摄像头，都很难阻止此类犯罪。防止此类事件发生的有效方法是建立一个让陷入困境的人也能得到救济的社会，这种救济除了覆盖民生也涉及法治层面——有饭吃能申冤，但中国政府会采取这样的措施吗？

— Nakamori Hideo (@sbtuite2222) November 14, 2024

Crimes known as “social revenge”, committed by people who resent society, are on the rise. No matter how many additional surveillance cameras are added, it will be difficult to stop such crimes. An effective way to prevent such incidents is to build a society in which those who are in trouble have access to remedies that cover not only livelihoods but also the rule of law — so that people have food and the power to redress their grievances — but will the Chinese government take such measures?

However, as anticipated, the Chinese authorities are fixated on their standard social control handbook. While social profiling is common in China through it's social credit system, on Weibo, many said that the Chinese Communist Party’s grassroots branches have started profiling residents into additional categories, namely, “4-without” (四無) and “5-failure” (五失). 

The “4-without” are those without a spouse and children, job and regular income, normal social connections, and assets like property and cars. The “5-failure” are those who “fail” in their investments, lives, relationships, and suffer from mental illness. 

The party branches were told to pay special attention to people labelled “4-without” and “5-failure” as they are assumed to have nothing to lose, and thus might be more likely to harm society. 

However, such a measure won’t relieve the social strain. One social media user pointed out that the two social groups are victims of an unjust system and need assistance, rather than further social labels and control. He puts it:

排查出来了，然后呢，关进监狱？四无五失人员又没有犯法，他们几乎都需要财务援助，中共没有一套完善的社会福利保障体系，如何让这些遇到难关的人暂时渡过难关？中共只会给地方政府“化债”，可以给维稳体系大撒币,但是对于真正源头问题，一分钱都不肯花！筑坝挡水和疏通河道，哪种更有效，中共不懂么？

— James-江南晓渡🇨🇦🇺🇦 (@james17_Canada) November 14, 2024

Having them screened out, and then what, put in jail? [People labelled] 4-without and 5-failure have not broken the law, and almost all of them are in need of economic assistance. The CCP does not have a comprehensive social welfare system, so how can it let these people who are in trouble get through their difficulties? The CCP keeps giving local governments money to solve their debt crisis, and it keeps pumping money into the stability maintenance system, but it is not willing to spend any money to solve the real problem! Shouldn’t the CCP know which is more effective: damming or dredging the river?