Audrey Jiajia Li

Opinion | Spate of random killings rooted in China’s social and economic despair

The mental trauma from pandemic controls and the economic slump have led to feelings of helplessness and despair that cannot be ignored

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A woman offers a prayer in front of a sports centre in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on November 13, two days after a driver rammed his car into a crowd there, killing 35. Photo: Kyodo

Audrey Jiajia Li

Published: 9:30am, 4 Dec 2024

China’s reputation as one of the world’s safest countries seems increasingly difficult to justify after a spate of seemingly random killings. Last month alone, two shocking attacks made global headlines: 35 are dead after a driver rammed his car into a crowd in Zhuhai city in Guangdong province, and another eight were killed in a knife attack in Yixing city in Jiangsu province.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for enhanced risk prevention, timely conflict resolution and strict measures. Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong also emphasised the need to develop the “Fengqiao experience” and to strengthen social patrolling and monitoring. Named after a town in Zhejiang which developed the approach in the 1960s, the Fengqiao model focused on mobilising the masses to intensify community control.

Soon after, an unverified document surfaced online, thought to be a community committee notice requiring the identification of two vulnerable groups. The first comprised “individuals of eight losses” (八失人员): those facing job or investment losses, feeling lost about romance, relationships or life in general, suffering from emotional imbalance or mental health issues, and the neglected young.

The second was described as a group of “three lows, three lacks” (三低三少): of low income, social status or prestige and lacking social interaction, social mobility or access to guidance channels.

This type of social management played a prominent role in the pandemic. From mass testing to contact tracing, lockdowns to deliveries, technology-enabled tracking brought individual activities under tight control.

But under the stringent zero-Covid policy, people felt monitored and powerless, their lives reduced to an atomised state of helplessness. Mental health deteriorated and when the policy was abruptly lifted, the psychological scars were left largely unaddressed.