China: 6 Killed in Kindergarten Stabbing

Facts

• Six people were killed and one injured during a stabbing at a kindergarten on Monday in the city of Lianjiang in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. Local police arrested a 25-year-old man surnamed Wu 20 minutes later.¹
• This attack, which reportedly claimed the lives of one teacher, two parents, and three children, allegedly stems from a vehicular incident as an anonymous source stated that one of the adult victims had hit the suspect's child with a car before, never providing him with any compensation.²
• Although the municipal education bureau stated that the investigation remains underway, local police refused to comment or provide further details about the assault that has become the top-trending discussion on Weibo.³
• The latest news prompted emotive debate on the social media platform, with some users questioning security at schools following a spate of similar attacks at pre-schools over the past years despite China's low violent crime rate.⁴
• Last August, three people were killed and others wounded in a preschool stabbing in Jiangxi province. A year earlier, a man killed two children and wounded 16 at a kindergarten in Guangxi.⁵
• While some people point to China's tough lockdowns as a possible additional reason for this increase in violence, others point to patterns of males who are outcasts from society.⁶

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²Global Times, ³NBC, ⁴New York Post, ⁵Sky News, and ⁶BBC News.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Smithsonian Magazine. Gun-free China, as has been the case in European countries, has seen a spike in mass killings with non-firearm weapons for decades now. While guns are certainly capable of more destruction, knives, swords, and meat cleaver attacks have resulted in several deadly killings of adults and children alike. Though their violent crime rates are lower than the US, these countries must work to stem this novel jump in random violence.
• Narrative B, as provided by Reuters. As violent crime was historically nonexistent in the PRC, the only societal change in recent decades has been the increase in social collapse and mental health deterioration. This has hit the mainland and territories such as Hong Kong, showing the spread of cultural decay and violence is connected to a social contagion and lack of mental health treatment rather than just access to weapons.