By admin 
Similar attacks have fueled online discussions in recent days about the social phenomenon of “revenge on society,” in which individuals respond to personal grievances by attacking strangers.
Eight people were killed and 17 others injured in a knife attack at a vocational school in eastern China on Saturday. Police said the suspect was a 21-year-old former student of the school who was due to graduate this year but had failed the exam.
Before that, at least 35 people were killed in a car attack in southern China on November 12, when a man encountered groups of people exercising on a sports track.
And in October, a man in Shanghai killed three people and injured 15 others in a stabbing attack at a supermarket.
According to police data, there have been 19 incidents of random violence in China this year where the perpetrator was unknown to the victims. These attacks killed 63 people and injured 166. This is a sharp increase compared to previous years: in 2023, for example, there were 16 deaths and 40 injuries.
Although the incidents are still sporadic and rare, they are high-profile. And the videos that often circulate on social media shortly afterwards have caused people to worry and fear.
“These are symptoms of a society with a lot of pent-up grievances,” Lynette Ong, professor of Chinese politics at Canada’s University of Toronto, told AFP.
‘Some people resort to giving up. Others want revenge when they are angry.”
A slowing economy, high youth unemployment and a real estate crisis that has damaged savings have led to increasing uncertainty about the future among Chinese.
Ong said violent attacks were the “negative side of the same coin” under the circumstances.
President Xi Jinping has ordered local officials to ensure the safety and “social stability” of communities and to “strictly prevent extreme cases.”
Officials are keen to show that they are acting quickly. They worry that such a large number of victims in one year could raise questions about China’s safety record, further alarming people and even discouraging tourism.
The Communist Party has rapidly expanded surveillance in recent years and following last week’s car attack in Zhuhai, there have been further orders to deploy local officials and community workers to prevent unrest.