China executes two men for committing ‘deadly revenge for societal crimes’ | Death penalty news

Fan Weiqu rammed his car into the crowd, killing 35 people, while Xu Jiajin, 21, killed eight people and injured 17 others in a stabbing attack.

China executed two men who carried out deadly attacks that left dozens dead in November, raising concerns about a surge in so-called “revenge against societal crimes”, media reported of state.

Fan Weiqu, 62, who crashed his car into a crowd outside a sports stadium in the southern city of Zhuhai, killing at least 35 people, was executed on Monday.

It was the deadliest attack the country has seen in more than a decade, according to authorities. Police said Fan was upset about his divorce settlement.

Also in November, Xu Jiajin, 21, killed eight people and injured 17 others in a knife attack at his vocational school in the eastern city of Wuxi.

Police said Wu failed his exams and could not graduate, and was unhappy with his salary for an internship. He was also executed on Monday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged local governments to take measures to prevent such attacks, calling them “revenge against societal crimes.”

The two men’s death sentences were handed down by the intermediate people’s courts in Zhuhai and Wuxi cities, respectively, in December, and approved by the Supreme People’s Court, according to state media.

Violent crime is rarer in China than in many Western countries, but the country has seen an increase in recent years. The stabbings and car attacks have damaged the ruling Communist Party’s reputation for public safety and crime prevention.

They also served as a shock factor that led some to question perceived social ills, such as frustration with a slowing economy, high unemployment and diminishing social mobility.

China classifies death penalty statistics as a state secret, but some rights groups estimate the country executes thousands of people each year. Executions are traditionally carried out by shooting, although lethal injections have also been introduced in recent years.