China executes two men for committing deadly ‘social crime revenge’ | Death penalty news
Fan Weiqu drove his car into the crowd, killing 35 people, while 21-year-old Xu Jiajin killed eight people and wounded 17 in a knife attack.
China has executed two men who carried out deadly attacks in November that killed dozens, raising concerns about a rise in what it calls “revenge social crimes”, state media reported.
Fan Weiqu, 62, who crashed into his car into a crowd outside a sports stadium in the southern city of Zhuhai, killing at least 35 people, he was executed on Monday.
The attack was the country’s deadliest in more than a decade, according to authorities. Police said Fan was upset about his divorce settlement.
Also in November, 21-year-old Xu Jiajin killed eight people and wounded 17 in stabbing attack at his vocational school in the eastern city of Wuxi.
Police said Wu failed exams and was unable to graduate and was unhappy with his internship salary. He was also executed on Monday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called on local authorities to take measures to prevent such attacks, known as “revenge of social crimes”.
The death sentences of the two men were handed down by the High People’s Courts in the cities of Zhuhai and Wuxi in December and approved by the Supreme People’s Court, according to state media.
Violent crime is less common in China than in many Western countries, but the country has seen an increase in recent years. The stabbings and car attacks have called into question the ruling Communist Party’s reputation for strict public safety and crime prevention.
They also carried a shock factor that led some to question perceived social flaws such as frustration with the slowing economy, high unemployment and declining social mobility.
China classifies death penalty statistics as a state secret, but some human rights groups believe the country carries out thousands of executions each year. Executions are traditionally carried out by firing squad, although lethal injection has been introduced in recent years.
