Two men have recently been executed in China after committing mass killings:
Fan Weiqu, 62, troubled after a divorce settlement, rammed his car into a crowd
of people in Zhuhai killing 35 on November 11th.
Xu Jiajin, 21, killed 8 and injured 17 others in a mass stabbing event at his
school in Wuxi after failing his exams on November 16th. (1)
These executions highlight a concerning trend of attacks on strangers amid a
breakdown of social cohesion and generalised instability:
30th September, a 37 year old man killed 3 and injured 15 in a mass
stabbing at a suburban supermarket in Shanghai.
28th October: a 50 year old man commits a mass stabbing near an
elementary school, injuring 5 people, including 3 children.
The mass killings led Xi Jinping to call for new measures to prevent on ‘revenge against society crimes’, exhorting local officials “to strengthen prevention and control of risks at the source, strictly prevent extreme cases from occurring, and to resolve conflicts and disputes in a timely manner”.
According to Xinhua: in a bid to deter future attacks the state has boosted security and punitive measures: “police have stepped up efforts to patrol public areas and deal promptly with social conflict and disputes” and the Ministry of Public Security has called for “severe penalties” for such crimes.
But these reactionary measures will not be able to prevent recurrence, as the revenge on society crimes have their basis in the breakdown of the economic conditions, wherein conditions of intensified economic hardship are driving psychological strain and despair:
Looking at official data, it has been reported that “China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5 percent year on year in 2024, meeting the government's full-year target” (2), but official statistics are notoriously unreliable and are often ‘massaged’ to meet political objectives.
Foreign analysts have noted with an air of suspicion the remarkable rally of the economy in the fourth quarter of 2024, defying the norm, which was boosted by stimulus measures, and have noted that exports may have had a short term uplift due to foreign corporations loading up on orders in anticipation of the incoming Trump presidencies regime of tariffs.
One can regard with an air of scepticism the discrepancy between the official and the real rate of growth. It is suspected that the real rate of growth is somewhere around ~2.5%. (3) Under this downturn, Chinese capitalists are forced to deepen exploitation to offset economic decline.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Chinese workers toiled an average of 48.8 hours a week (4), but this figure was subject to ridicule: with many on social media stating that it the figure is downplayed; highlighting the use of the 996 working hour system. A common work schedule which derives its name from its schedule of working from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, 6 days per week – 72 hours per week. These figures can be contrasted against a global average of 40 hours a week.
This process is explained by Marx: “in its blind and measureless drive, its insatiable appetite for surplus labour, capital oversteps not only moral but even the merely physical limits of the working day”, or how unscrupulous employers, will ‘where possible, try to make two working days out of one’ – increasing the rate of exploitation.
Where the economy is contracting, material conditions are the key drivers of these crimes of despair rather than individual pathology. Under conditions of slowdown in the economy, capitalists are forced to deepen exploitation and extend working hours which is injurious to the workers mental health.
Under these conditions, crimes against society will continue despite the law and order campaign of the CCP - these kind of incidents marks the intensification of social conflicts in China, gradually leading to the complete collapse of society – a process Leon Trotsky described as the death agony of Capital.
References:
1. China executes 2 convicted mass murderers
https://english.news.cn/20250120/d36d360c5e8e4d47ae0166522e68ed12/c.html
2. Update: China's GDP grows 5 pct in 2024, hitting annual target
https://english.news.cn/20250117/627c3c32174e429cb2b3952b6132d52f/c.html
3. After the Fall: China’s Economy in 2025
https://rhg.com/research/after-the-fall-chinas-economy-in-2025
4. National Economy Showed Stable Growth Trend with Positive Factors
Accumulating in the First Three Quarters
https://english.www.gov.cn/archive/statistics/202410/18/content_WS6711cd66c6d0868f4e8ec048.html
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