Tragedy at Vocational School in China: Another Violent Crime Shakes Wuxi

In the eastern Chinese city of Wuxi, a shocking incident occurred on Saturday evening: A knife attack at a vocational college claimed the lives of eight people and injured 17 others. This act of violence marks the second incident of this kind within a week. Police reported that they have arrested the suspected perpetrator, a 21-year-old student with the surname Xu. The attack took place at the Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology in Yixing, a smaller city within the jurisdiction of Wuxi in Jiangsu Province. Xu confessed to the crime, citing exam stress and dissatisfaction with his internship salary as reasons. Just a few days ago, another serious incident shook the nation, when a driver in Zhuhai, a southern city in China, plowed into a crowd, killing 35 people. The authorities charged the 62-year-old driver, Fan, and took decisive actions. Analysts see signs of increasing social tensions in the rise of such events. China's slowing economic growth leads to job losses and declining incomes, which experts believe could contribute to an increase in violence. In recent months, there have been several tragic attacks, such as those in Jiangxi and Yunnan in May and in Suzhou and Shanghai in June. Investigations at the crime scene in Wuxi are ongoing, while the treatment of the victims is of utmost priority. However, there remains limited information on many of these incidents, as discussions online are censored and video footage is removed from platforms. A rare personal appeal by China's head of state, Xi Jinping, to curb social unrest underscores the government's sensitivity to this issue. On Tuesday, Xi called for improvements in risk prevention to maintain public stability.