China has executed Fan Weiqiu, a 62-year-old man convicted of killing at least 35 people in a car attack last November, marking the deadliest incident of its kind in the country in a decade.
Fan injured dozens more when he drove his car into a crowd of people exercising outside a stadium in the southern city of Zhuhai. The attack, described by authorities as “extremely vile,” highlights a growing concern over public acts of violence in China.
State media also reported the execution of a second individual, Xu Jiajin, 21, who carried out a separate attack just days later. Xu killed eight people in a stabbing spree at his university in Wuxi, located in eastern China.
Authorities stated that Fan was motivated by “dissatisfaction” over the division of his property following his divorce, while Xu’s attack stemmed from his “failure to obtain his diploma due to poor exam results.”
Fan was apprehended at the scene of the November 11 attack, where police reported that he was found with self-inflicted wounds.
In December, the Zhuhai Intermediate People’s Court found him guilty of “endangering public safety,” emphasizing that his methods were “particularly cruel.” Less than a month later, Fan was executed on Monday.
In Xu’s case, police reported that he confessed to his crimes “without hesitation” on November 16. He was sentenced to death on December 17, with the court describing his actions as “particularly bad” and “extremely serious.”
Human rights organizations claim China is the world’s leading executor, with thousands of executions reportedly carried out each year. However, the country does not disclose official figures, making it impossible to verify these claims.
China has been facing a surge in public violence, often involving individuals seeking to “take revenge on society” due to personal grievances. In 2024, there were 19 such attacks across the country.
Shortly after the incidents in Zhuhai and Wuxi, another man drove into a crowd of children and parents outside a primary school in Changde, injuring 30 people. Authorities said the attacker, Huang Wen, acted out of frustration caused by investment losses and family disputes.
Huang was handed a suspended death sentence last month, which could be commuted to life imprisonment if he avoids committing further crimes over the next two years.
Experts have noted that these attacks raise concerns about how Chinese citizens are coping with various pressures, including the country’s slowing economy.
“The tensions do seem to be building, and it doesn’t look like there is any way it is going to ease up in the near future,” said George Magnus, an economist at Oxford University’s China Centre.
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