A young man who killed eight people and injured 17 in a stabbing rampage at a vocational school in China this month had flunked out and was unhappy about the pay he was earning as an intern. A man who drove into a crowd the same week, killing 35, was angry about the division of property in his divorce. Last week, a man drove into people near an elementary school. Officials call such incidents isolated, but some experts are connecting them as signs of disaffected people taking “revenge against society” as the economy falters, reports the Washington Post. "Behind these recent violent attacks, I see grassroots people with issues who have a lot of pent-up anger and stress,” said Zhao Liangshan, a lawyer who specializes in marriage-related lawsuits and financial disputes.
Although widespread social unrest is inconceivable in China because of the all-encompassing security apparatus, analysts say, officials are concerned about localized social instability and are taking these incidents seriously. In repeated announcements, the Chinese government has vowed to take decisive action to prevent future attacks, but is using security agencies to contain complaints rather than alleviating people’s underlying economic concerns. The Supreme People’s Court convened a special meeting on Saturday to discuss maintaining social stability, while public security and Ministry of Justice officials have reiterated the need to safeguard security and resolve issues at a grassroots level before violence occurs. Zhang Jun, China’s Supreme People’s Court chief justice, said that serious crimes must be sternly punished, while trials and sentencing must be timely so the public can “truly feel fairness and justice.” The Ministry of Justice urged judicial bodies at all levels to safeguard social stability and enhance mediation of disputes involving marriages, neighbors and inheritances. Violent crime in China remains rare, and it is hard to get a clear picture of the motivations of the recent attackers. Several stabbings over the summer seemed to target foreigners in China, including an attack on four American educators visiting China and another attack on two Japanese people at a bus stop in Suzhou, a city near Shanghai.