Candles and floral tributes were placed outside a sports center in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China, where a fatal hit-and-run incident occurred last week.
A former student launched a stabbing spree at a vocational college in eastern China, resulting in the deaths of eight individuals and injuring 17 others, according to police reports on Sunday. This incident has sparked further introspection, coming just days after the most lethal attack in the country in over a decade.
The knife attack on Saturday transpired at the Wuxi Vocational College of Arts and Technology in Yixing, a district of Wuxi city in Jiangsu province. The suspect, a 21-year-old male, was apprehended at the scene and admitted to the crime, police stated.
On the same day, authorities in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai announced charges against a 62-year-old man who allegedly drove his car into a crowd outside a sports stadium, resulting in 35 fatalities and 43 injuries on Monday night.
In both instances, the suspects resorted to deadly violence against unrelated bystanders following economic setbacks, as per the limited details provided by police.
These killings have ignited a rare and heavily censored online discourse about mental health in China, the increasing strains as the world's second-largest economy decelerates, and whether the younger generation will fare worse than those before them who benefited from China's rapid growth.
At least six other high-profile knife attacks have been documented across China this year. Police in Wuxi revealed that the stabbing suspect was enraged over not receiving his graduation certificate, failing an exam, and dissatisfaction with his pay.
According to preliminary investigations, the suspect... attacked others after failing an exam and not receiving his graduation certificate, as well as being dissatisfied with his internship compensation, the Yixing Public Security Bureau stated in a release.
On Sunday, a Reuters witness observed students departing with suitcases from the school, although one student, who preferred to remain anonymous, mentioned that classes were still in session.
A man who arrived to lay a bouquet of chrysanthemums near one of the school gates, giving his surname as Duan, expressed, They were just 18, 19-year-old kids. Its such a pity and so sad. We really have to provide young people with better psychological guidance, he added. Security promptly removed the bouquet.
The Zhuhai suspect was reportedly incensed over the terms of a divorce settlement, according to police.
Qu Weiguo, a Fudan University professor, noted that the recent cases of indiscriminate revenge against society in China shared common traits: disadvantaged suspects, many with mental health issues, who felt they had been treated unjustly and believed they had no other avenue to be heard.
It is crucial to establish a social safety net and a psychological counseling mechanism, but to minimize such cases, the most effective approach is to open public channels that can monitor and expose the misuse of power, Qu posted on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. The brief essay had been removed by censors by Sunday afternoon.
Wuxi Vocational College offers courses aimed at preparing students for careers in industries such as wire and cable manufacturing, interior design, marketing, and other fields, as per its website.
Such junior colleges are part of an initiative to guide more young people into job-specific training rather than oversubscribed universities as youth unemployment rises.
Online discussion topics over the past year have highlighted the diminishing optimism in China regarding a turnaround for jobs, income, and opportunity. One such topic, the garbage time of history, gained traction in the summer as a metaphor for economic despair.
In recent weeks, Chinese officials have implemented a series of stimulus measures to invigorate the economy. Monday's car attack also prompted a response from President Xi Jinping, who urged local police to strengthen their control of risks by identifying individuals at risk of lashing out.
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