On Monday, China executed Fan Weiqiu, convicted of the killing of 35 in a car rampage in Zhuhai last November, considered the most egregious mass attack in several years to take place in the country.
On November 11, the 62-year-old Fan drove his SUV into crowds exercising outside a sports complex, injuring another 45 people. Last month, he was sentenced to death, the court describing his motives as “extremely vile” and the nature of his crime as “egregious.”
State broadcaster CCTV cited that a court in Zhuhai had carried out the execution of Fan in accordance with an order by the Supreme People’s Court. The personnel from the municipal public prosecutor’s office attended to supervise the execution as required by the law.
The attack sent shockwaves through Chinese society, with many debating the state of public safety. Fan was caught at the scene with self-inflicted knife wounds and was reportedly in a coma shortly thereafter.
At his sentencing, Fan stood before the victims’ families and the packed courtroom and pleaded guilty. The court thus found that he acted with anger brought about by a failed marriage, personal frustrations, and dissatisfaction over division of property following the divorce. It labeled his methods “particularly cruel,” having serious outcomes to lives–and constituting a serious threat to society.
Violent crime is still relatively rare in China by most Western standards, but the past year has seen a disturbing rise in mass-casualty incidents, including stabbings and car attacks. The attacks have called into question the Communist Party’s ability to ensure public security and reflect growing social issues, such as economic stagnation, high unemployment, and reduced social mobility.
Meanwhile, CCTV said Xu Jiajin, a 21-year-old former student who committed mass stabbing at a vocational school in Wuxi, eastern Jiangsu province, that left eight dead and 17 wounded, had been executed. A court sentenced Xu to death in December, finding his crime “extraordinarily serious.” He was allowed to meet with near relatives before execution.
While China classifies death penalty statistics as state secrets, human rights organizations such as Amnesty International estimate that the country carries out several thousand executions annually.
