The People’s Republic of China is considered one of the most orderly and safest countries in the world. This is not particularly surprising, given that China is governed by the Communist Party, which still maintains strict control over all segments of society. Strict oversight and rigorous laws do not allow violence involving firearms, knives, or vehicles to spread unchecked through Chinese streets. China has one of the lowest rates of homicides, criminal offenses, and gun violence in the world. Nevertheless, exceptions do exist. In fact, when it comes to street violence, the trends are worrying.
Attack on May 18
On May 18 (Sunday), a shooting occurred at a restaurant in downtown Wuhan. One person was killed and two were injured. Photos of the incident, showing injured individuals (one slumped in a chair, another lying on the floor), spread on social media. A video recorded after the attack, which has since been removed from social media, showed crowds of people moving around a well-lit nighttime crime scene before emergency services arrived.
The attack took place in a part of Wuhan with many restaurants featuring outdoor terraces (most of these restaurants serve barbecue dishes). The police statement from the Qiaokou District in Wuhan did not disclose what type of weapon was used in the attack. According to police, the attack was not random but organized, and the cause was some form of dispute. Wuhan (the capital of Hubei Province) is known as a peaceful industrial city on the Yangtze River in central China. According to available information, the city was also the origin of the coronavirus pandemic in late 2019.
Covering up the problem
According to official statistics, armed violence in China is a very rare and isolated occurrence. How accurate that actually is remains a topic of debate. Since China is a totalitarian one-party state, it is likely that some incidents are hidden from the public. The political establishment still controls everything in China, including the media. At the same time, Chinese media prominently report news about gun violence in the United States. The aim is to convince the domestic public that the Chinese political and social model (socialism with Chinese characteristics) is a better and more desirable option than American democracy.
Although China has a strict legal framework, gun violence has not been eradicated—it still exists. From time to time, it becomes visible not only to the Chinese public but to the global public as well. In 2010, a man armed with an automatic weapon stormed a courthouse in central China and killed three judges before taking his own life. The apparent motive for the crime was a verdict in a property dispute between the perpetrator and his wife, who were going through a divorce. The court had ruled in the wife’s favor.
Series of Attacks Last Year
At the end of last year, China experienced a series of mass street attacks involving knives or vehicle ramming. Gun attacks are rarer due to the strict checks and controls on gun ownership and possession. Several cases are worth mentioning. On November 19, a white SUV drove into elementary school students on their way to class in the city of Changde in Hunan Province. Some adults were also injured, and the incident occurred near the school’s entrance gate. The 39-year-old attacker was overpowered by bystanders and security guards. The motives remain unknown.
Three days earlier, eight people were killed and 17 injured in a knife attack at the Vocational College of Arts and Technology in Yixing, about 160 kilometers west of Shanghai in eastern China. Police detained a 21-year-old student. It was stated that he was unable to graduate and was dissatisfied with the pay during his internship. On November 11, a man enraged by his divorce drove a car into a crowd of people exercising at a sports complex in the city of Zhuhai in southern China, killing 35 and injuring 43. Police detained a 62-year-old man who had tried to stab himself with a knife inside the vehicle. The man was reportedly unhappy with the division of financial assets following his divorce.
Crime Scenes: Schools, Colleges, and Supermarkets
On October 28, a knife attack occurred near an elementary school in Beijing. Five people were injured, including three children. Police arrested a 50-year-old suspect. The motive was not disclosed. Earlier that same month, a 10-year-old Japanese student was killed after being stabbed near his school in Shenzhen. Before that, in June, a Japanese woman and her child were attacked at a bus stop near a Japanese school in Suzhou, near Shanghai. On September 30, a 37-year-old man fatally stabbed three people and injured 15 others in a supermarket in Shanghai. Police revealed that the man had financial problems and had come to Shanghai to “express his anger.”
China’s Fight Against Terrorism and Organized Crime
In the past eight years, China has not officially experienced any terrorist attacks, and according to official data, the number of incidents related to organized crime is also declining. This suggests that anti-terrorism campaigns have been effective. Between 2018 and 2021, large-scale “sweeping campaigns against gangs and evil” were carried out, aimed at suppressing organized crime and reinforcing Party authority. In the past five years, Chinese authorities reportedly dismantled more than 5,200 criminal organizations involved in illegal activities and arrested 1,600 criminals.
However, due to the state’s strong control over information (mass surveillance), repressive measures (especially against Uyghurs and other Muslims), and lack of transparency (control over media and judiciary), it is difficult to independently verify the true state of security in the country. In some provinces, problems persist with local clans and organized crime groups, particularly in lucrative sectors like construction, gambling (Macau), smuggling, and human trafficking.
Causes of Street Violence
It is clear that, in addition to mafia and Islamist organizations, other causes of armed violence on Chinese streets include racism-chauvinism (primarily against Japanese people) and dissatisfaction with everyday life in China (debt, divorces, work or academic failure). It is well known that Chinese people harbor resentment toward Europeans, Japanese, and Americans due to their colonial history (Opium Wars, Boxer Rebellion, Japanese irredentism). Despite decades of peace, those negative sentiments remain strong among the Chinese population.
Given that China, like the West, has come to worship money as its supreme god, it’s not surprising that the same socio-economic issues affecting the West (high cost of living, evictions, financial stress, failed marriages) are producing similar consequences—street violence. Although the Chinese are culturally different from the rest of the world, it is evident that they are much more similar to other Earthlings than they are willing to admit.
As China continues to move toward capitalism, further incidents can be expected. These incidents will not disappear, even if the authorities try to conceal them. In fact, cover-ups might encourage even more street violence and resistance to the Communist regime. These are problems that are seldom discussed, but street violence holds the potential to challenge, and possibly even overthrow, China’s communist leadership.
Author: Matija Šerić
Covered image: AI
