Tragedy in China, Shocks the Entire Community

5/05/2010

Kan Zhong

Translated by Choni Tsultrim

5/23/2010

On May 8, a homicide case in Jiangxi Province resulted in eight people being killed, including the suspect's own mother and wife. Because of the recent rash of violent crimes, some experts have concluded that one of the causes is the continuing deterioration of social relations.

Zhao Yezhong, the suspect, killed eight people in a row on the evening of May 8 at Badu Town, Jishui County of Jiangxi and then ran away. He was later arrested by police.
The victims include the suspect's 80 years old mother, his wife, and 10-year old daughter. Five other suspects include Zhou's neighbor and an out-of-town laborer. A reporter from Voice of America tried to obtain the most recent development of this case but was told by the officer on duty that it is still under the investigation of security agencies. Further development will be published later by the security department, but the suspect has been arrested.

Deterioration of Social Relationships

Within the last 6 months, violent crimes have happened frequently, including the case in Beijing last November involving young children being killed or hurt in a school yard. The common feature of these cases is the killing of next of kin or innocent children through stabbings.

Killing one's own child and mother is a rare behavior in this world, but why does it happen so frequently in China, a big country with a high GDP? Mr. Hu Xingdou, professor of economics at Beijing Institute of Technology and chairman of the Chinese Sociological Research Association, said, “At present, the social relations continue to deteriorate, and a growing gap between the rich and the poor. Thus the rich and the poor are in more of the opposite stance.”

He added, “Currently, China is a predatory society. You may say that the privileged and the special interest groups are depriving the common people through a variety of means: the strong bullying the weak. Meanwhile, the weaker party is raising a knife to the more vulnerable. In other words, the weaker party has the mentality that he needs to perish together with the entire family or community in order to solve his predicament.”
Demanding Social Justice

Professor Hu believes that taking revenge on the weaker parties is an exhibition of cowardice and selfishness. One should ask society for social justice instead. He stated, “If one is in extreme difficulty, one should ask society for justice and resolve one's own predicament, but not raise a knife to someone weaker and ruin one's own family. These violent cases indicate the deterioration of social relations and also the cowardice and cruelty of human nature.”

Zhou Xiaozheng, professor of sociology of Renmin University in China, thinks that China's wealth distribution and social injustice are the main causes for crimes of violence. Therefore, eradication of social injustice is the key point in eliminating violent crimes in the community.