
In every society, disturbed individuals often target children to vent their frustrations: children are vulnerable and easy targets, and allow the perpetrator to "strike back at society" since the small ones represent our future. However, in China a disturbing trend is developing regarding such attacks, and it was especially difficult not to notice the horrific spate of assaults on children throughout 2010 in various Chinese cities. In these incidents, primary school children were wounded or killed, supposedly by lone persons, which the Chinese media swiftly dismissed as copy-cat killings.
Adamant that there is no connection between these murders, the Chinese government and police maintain a stalwart media blackout over the incidents, citing a fear of further copycat attacks. Upon closer examination, however, all these dark events share some chillingly similar characteristics, and we've taken the time to list the cases we were able to find spanning a period of 16 years. The reader will note more often than not that the cases the cases involve:
--children from primary schools
--a knife being used as the main method of attack
--attacks that are of a brutal, almost sadistic nature
--attackers having respectable occupations, such as teachers or other professionals
--attackers without any shared profile (men, women, old, young)
--a heavy reliance on the "mentally ill" card
--attackers possessing no known motive
The cases listed below are only the ones that escaped the Chinese blackout and were reported by media outlets outside of the country, making it difficult to form a complete picture of just how many incidents have occurred and the true total casualty figures. Sadly and disturbingly, the attacks could be far more widespread than even we realize.
Other cases involving very young children include mass poisoning, and in some instances have even been proven to be pre-meditated, that is, done intentionally. Despite this, the Chinese media have quickly stamped out the possibility of planned attacks and dismissed these incidents as "food poisoning". If such is the case, why is this happening only in China for the most part, and why are the consequences so lethal? In just the past couple of weeks there has been a deluge of food poisoning cases in China that have all happened at primary schools: 3 cases have occurred in 3 days at 3 different schools. Coincidence?
Earlier on it was established through investigation by Chinese authorities that the instances of mass poisoning of children were deliberate, planned and intentional. Now it's simply "food poisoning", despite the fact that these incidents are becoming more widespread and occurring with greater rapidity than ever before. Add to this that the knife attacks on primary schools suddenly ceased in 2010 around the time when the media black was put into effect, and one acquires a bizarre and nebulous conclusion as to the nature of these attacks and if they really did stop as claimed. Are they still occurring and going unreported?
Who or what is killing the young children of China, and why is there no obvious motive or connection behind or between these attacks? A more chilling question is this: how are so many lone persons capable of butchering entire groups of young children as young as two years old with enormous knives (and other sickening implements) without showing any emotion? Is this a blatant symptom of society's collapse in China, or is there an unknown connection that's going unmentioned?
The list of attacks spanning the last 16 years are as follows:
July 10, 1995 - Meihekou,China – Dong Chi – 2 dead – 16 InjuredAn assailant armed with a double-barreled shotgun and garden shears attacked staff and students at a kindergarten in Meihekou, killing a six-year-old girl and wounding 15 other students and a teacher. The assailant, identified as Dong Chi, was shot and killed by police.
August 1998 – Henan, China – Teacher – 2 dead – 15 Injured A teacher stabbed two children to death and wounded 15 others.
September 14, 1998 – Hejiang County, China – Lin Peiqing – 23 Injured Lin Peiqing stabbed 23 elementary school children during a morning flag-raising ceremony.
November 26, 2002 – Huaiji County, China – Shi Ruoqiu – 5 dead – 2 InjuredShi Ruoqiu stabbed seven children at Shilong Elementary School with a kitchen knife before being arrested. One child died at the scene, while four more succumbed to their wounds in hospital.
November 26, 2002 – Guangdong, China – School Dinners laced with rat poison – 70 InjuredSeventy nursery school children and two teachers have been admitted to hospital in south-eastern China after eating lunches which appeared to have been laced with rat poison.
March 7, 2003 – Beihai, China – Xie, Zhongcai – 8 Injured24-year-old Xie Zhongcai stabbed four teachers and four children in a kindergarten in Beihai, after one of the teachers, with whom he had been in love, had arranged for him to be beaten up. Xie was finally overpowered by staff members and the father of one of the kindergarten children.
September 11, 2004 – Suzhou, China – Yang Gouzhu – 28 InjuredA man armed with a knife and homemade explosives attacked 28 children at a kindergarten.
September 20, 2004 – Ying County, China - Jia Qingyou – 25 Injured36-year-old Jia Qingyou, a bus driver, injured 25 children with a kitchen knife at No. 1 Experimental Primary School in Ying county. He was later sentenced to death and executed.
September 30, 2004 – Chenzhou, China – Liu Hongwen – 4 dead – 12 InjuredLiu Hongwen, a 28-year-old primary school teacher, killed four children with a knife in a grade one class at a school in Chenzhou and wounded nine other children and three teachers, before taking 65 students hostage. After negotiations with a county government official he surrendered to police. He was later found not guilty by reason of insanity due to schizophrenia.
December 4, 2004 – Mingcheng Town, China – Liu Zhigang – 12 Injured12 students were stabbed by Liu Zhigang, a man suffering from schizophrenia, at the Central Primary School of Mingcheng Town, Panshi City. Liu was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
October 12, 2005 – Guangde County, China – Liu Shibing – 18 Injured18 people, among them 16 children, were injured when Liu Shibing shot them with six home-made guns at Niutoushan Primary School in Guangde.
May 8 , 2006 – Shiguan, China – Bai Ningyang – 12 Dead – 5 injuredShiguan kindergarten attack. Armed with two knifes and petrol 19-year-old Bai Ningyang entered a classroom on the second floor of a kindergarten in Shiguan, a village near Gongyi. He forced the 21 children and the teacher to the back of the room, sprayed the floor with gasoline, and, before setting it on fire, let one child go because he knew their parents. Bai then locked the door and escaped. 12 of the children died and four others and the teacher were wounded. Bai was arrested the next day and sentenced to death in December 2007.
May 24, 2006 – Luoying, China – Yang Xinlong – 2 dead – 2 injured35-year-old farmer Yang Xinlong hacked his aunt to death, set her house on fire and injured another person after an argument before entering Luoying Primary School where he stabbed a child to death in a third grade classroom and took 18 others hostage for several hours. When Yang refused to let the children go he was shot and arrested by police.
June 13, 2007 – Chiling, China – Su Qianxiao – 1 dead – 3 InjuredA nine-year-old boy was killed when Su Qianxiao, a 42-year-old villager from Chiling, stabbed four children with a kitchen knife at Chiling Primary School. He was caught by locals before he could commit suicide by jumping off the school's roof.
September 13, 2007 – Hengyang, China – Kuang Xi – 1 dead – 5 Injured28-year-old Kuang Xi, an allegedly mentally disturbed man, hurled five girls and one boy out of a window on the third floor of Hongqiao Primary School, killing a nine-year-old girl. He was subdued by four men, before he could throw out a seventh child.
September 24, 2007 – Northwest China – Food Poisoning – 300 InjuredThe number of children hospitalized with food poisoning after eating school meals at a kindergarten in northwest China has risen to 307.
July 1, 2008 – Southern China – Water was Poisoned – 60 InjuredMore than 60 children fell ill after drinking water that may have been deliberately poisoned at a primary school in southern China
September 17, 2008 – Hubei Province, China – Poisoned Milk – 3 dead – over 600 injuredThree infants have been killed by the powder, which was laced with the compound melamine, while 158 are fighting acute kidney failure. The number of sick children has hit 6,244, said Chinese health minister Chen Zhu.
September 22, 2008 – China – Poisoned Milk – 53,000 InjuredThe number of Chinese children reported sick from the poisonous plastic melamine added to their milk has increased to almost 53,000, the government said.
December 2, 2008 – China – Poisoned Milk – 6 dead – 300,000 InjuredNearly 300,000 children were made sick and six may have been killed by milk tainted with the toxic plastic melamine, Beijing has said in a major revision of numbers of those affected by China's worst recent health scare .
March 3, 2009 – Mazhan, China – Xu Ximei - 2 dead – 4 Injured40-year-old Xu Ximei, an allegedly mentally disabled woman, stabbed two boys, aged 4 and 6, to death with a kitchen knife and injured another three children, as well as the 76-year-old grandmother of one of her victims at the primary school of Mazhan village in Guangdong province. She was later found lying in a classroom and arrested.
August 20, 2009 – Central China – Lead Poisoning – 1300+ InjuredMore than 1,300 children have been poisoned by a manganese factory in central China, the state media reported today, amid growing fears about the prevalence of heavy metal pollution nationwide.
March 23, 2010 – Nanping, China – Zheng Minsheng – 8 Dead – 5 InjuredNanping school stabbings. Eight children were hacked to death with a machete and five others were injured outside an elementary school inNanping. The assailant, identified as 41-year-old Zheng Minsheng, was restrained by school security guards and then arrested by police.
April 13, 2010 – Xichang, China – Yang Jiaqin – 2 dead – 5 InjuredAn assailant armed with a meat cleaver attacked students and bystanders outside an elementary school, killing a schoolboy and an elderly woman and wounding three other children and two adults before being arrested by police. The assailant, identified as 40-year-old Yang Jiaqin, was reported to be mentally ill.
April 28, 2010 – Leizhou, China – Chen Kangbing – 17 InjuredChen Kangbing stabbed and injured 16 students and one teacher at Leicheng First Primary School in Leizhou before being restrained by teachers and arrested by police.
April 29, 2010 – Taixing, China – Xu Yuyuan – 32 InjuredXu Yuyuan stabbed 29 children, two teachers and a security guard at the Zhongxin Kindergarten in Taixing. It was reported that five of the injured children were in critical condition.
April 30, 2010 – Weifang, China – Wang Yonglai – 1 dead – 6 InjuredWang Yonglai, a 45-year-old farmer, used a motorcycle to break through a gate at Shangzhuang Primary School in Weifang and then assaulted several children with a hammer, wounding five of them. A teacher also injured her foot, while trying to stop Wang, who ended his attack by grabbing two children and pouring gasoline over himself. Teachers managed to pull the children to safety, before Wang committed suicide by setting himself on fire.
May 12, 2010 - Hanzhong, China – Wu Huanming – 10 Dead – 11 InjuredAn assailant killed seven children and two adults and wounded 11 other children at the Shengshui Temple Kindergarten in Hanzhong when he attacked them with a cleaver. The assailant, identified as 48-year-old Wu Huanming, fled from the school and committed suicide when he returned to his house.
May 20, 2010 – Beijing China – 5 Knife-wielding men - 9 Injured (college students)Men with knives burst into a college dormitory and slashed nine students in the latest violence in a country shaken by a recent string of rampages at schools.
August 3, 2010 - Zibo, China – Fang Jiantang – 3 Dead – 7 InjuredA knife-wielding man attacked children and staff at a kindergarten in Zibo. Three children were killed and three other children and four teachers were injured in the attack. It was reported that two of the injured teachers were in critical condition. The assailant, identified as 26-year-old Fang Jiantang, was arrested by police after the attack.
Jan 6, 2011 – Gaohe, Anhui Province, China – Lead Poisoning – 200 Children injuredMass testing of young children in the central Chinese town of Gaohe, Anhui province, began in December. (Lead poisoning, which tends to build up slowly as a result of repeated exposure, can damage the kidneys, nervous and reproductive systems and is especially harmful to children, causing brain damage and behavioural problems.)
February 21, 2011 – Shaanxi Province, China - food Poisoning – 100 injuredNearly 100 children were sickened by food poisoning Monday noon at a kindergarten in Northwest China's Shaanxi province.
April 6, 2011 – Fujian Province, China – encephalitis – 200 injuredAccording to the head of administration of the county health Woo Chzhansinya, 115 cases have been laboratory confirmed. In cases biomaterials experts from the Ministry of Health and local epidemiological centers found enteroviruses ECHO 30 type.
April 8, 2011 – Gansu Province, China - food poisoning – 3 dead – 35 InjuredThree children have died of food poisoning in northwest China's Gansu Province and investigators suspected they had drunk nitrite-tainted milk, the local government said Friday.
May 4, 2011 – Fukui Prefecture, China – food poisoning – 2 dead – 56 injuredTwo children died and 56 other people became ill from food poisoning linked to a raw meat dish at a restaurant in central Japan, news reports said Tuesday.
June 12, 2011 – Hangzou, China – Lead Poisoning – 600 injured – 103 children injuredMore than 600 people, including 103 children, have been found to be suffering from lead poisoning in east China's Zhejiang Province, according to local health authorities.
June 24, 2011 – Heilongjiang Province, China – food poisoning - 13 InjuredThirteen children between the ages of 3 and 8 were hospitalized on Thursday in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province after becoming sickened in a suspected case of food poisoning, doctors said.
July 8, 2011 – Zhejiang Province, China – food poisoning – 42 InjuredSpoiled leftovers have been identified as the cause in a food poisoning case that hospitalized 42 kindergartners in east Zhejiang Province, local authorities said Monday.
August 29, 2011 – Shanghai, China – Unknown – 8 Injured A 30-year-old woman slashed eight children with a box cutter at a child-care centre in Shanghai, leaving one of the wounded in serious condition. The attacker, a day care worker at the kindergarten, who was said to have suffered from psychiatric problems, was arrested.
September 6, 2011 – Hebei Province, China – Food Poisoning – 27 InjuredTwenty-seven students of a primary school in Hebei Province were receiving medical treatment Tuesday after a suspected food poisoning incident, local authorities said.
September 7, 2011 – Gao'an City, China – Food Poisoning – 14 InjuredFourteen children in an east China kindergarten have been hospitalized in what local authorities suspect was food poisoning.
September 8, 2011 – Shenxian County, China – Food Poisoning – 86 InjuredEighty-six primary school students have been affected by a suspected food poisoning incident in East China's Shandong province, said local authorities Thursday.
September 9, 2011 – Songjiang District, China – food Poisoning – 27 InjuredA total of 27 children from a kindergarten in Songjiang District left hospitals yesterday after treatment for suspected food poisoning.
And on it goes...
-- By Matt & Lynsey. You are free to reproduce this editorial on your own website as long as you offer a link back to this page. Thanks!