China has carried out the execution of an individual who killed 35 people during a car rampage in the southern city of Zhuhai last November, marking the country’s most deadly mass assault in several years.
On 11 November, Fan Weiqiu, aged 62, intentionally drove a small SUV into crowds of people exercising outside a sports complex, injuring 45 others in what has been deemed China’s worst such incident since 2014.
He received a death sentence last month, with a court stating that his motives “were extremely vile, (and) the nature of the crime extremely egregious.”
According to state broadcaster CCTV, a court in Zhuhai “executed Fan Weiqiu in accordance with the execution order issued by the Supreme People’s Court.”
The attack carried out by Fan led to a widespread public outcry and introspection within China regarding societal conditions.
At the time of the incident, he was apprehended at the scene with self-inflicted knife wounds and subsequently fell into a coma, police reported.
During his trial last month, Fan admitted guilt in front of some victims’ family members, officials, and the public, as reported by state media.
The court determined that he “decided to vent his anger” due to “a broken marriage, personal frustrations, and dissatisfaction with the division of property post-divorce.”
It concluded that his chosen methods were “particularly cruel, and the consequences particularly severe, posing significant harm to society.”
Second execution
While violent crime is generally less common in China compared to many Western nations, the country experienced a series of mass casualty events last year.
Incidents involving stabbings and car attacks put the ruling Communist Party’s reputation for stringent public security and crime prevention to the test.
These events also raised concerns that sparked discussions about perceived social issues such as frustration stemming from a slowing economy, high unemployment rates, and declining social mobility.
CCTV has reported that another court in eastern Jiangsu province executed a man who killed eight people and injured 17 during a mass stabbing last November.
Xu Jiajin, a 21-year-old former student who attacked a vocational school in Wuxi, was executed “in accordance with the law,” as reported by CCTV.
He had also been sentenced to death in December, with the court declaring that his crime was “extraordinarily serious,” according to CCTV.
Xu was allowed to “meet with his close relatives” before the execution, the broadcaster noted.
China regards death penalty statistics as a state secret, but human rights organizations like Amnesty International believe the country executes thousands annually.
