China executes 2 men who committed deadly attacks known as 'revenge on society crimes'

A woman stands near flowers placed outside the "Zhuhai People's Fitness Plaza," where a man deliberately rammed his car into people exercising at the sports centre, killing some and injuring others in Zhuhai in southern China's Guangdong province on Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

BEIJING — China has executed two men who committed deadly attacks that killed dozens in November, raising concerns about a surge in what are called “revenge on society crimes,” state media reported Monday.

Fan Weiqu, 62, who rammed his car into a crowd outside a sports stadium in the southern city of Zhuhai, killing at least 35 people, was executed on Monday. The attack was the country’s deadliest in over a decade, according to authorities. Police said Fan was upset over his divorce settlement.

Also in November, 21-year-old Xu Jiajin killed eight people and injured 17 others in a stabbing attack at his vocational school in the eastern city of Wuxi. Police said Wu had failed his examinations and could not graduate, and was dissatisfied about his pay at an internship. He was also executed on Monday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The killings spurred Chinese President Xi Jinping to urge local governments to take measures to prevent such attacks, known as “ revenge on society crimes.”

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

China is believed to execute more prisoners each year than the rest of the world combined, though the precise total is classified a state secret. Executions are traditionally carried out by gunshot, though lethal injections have also been introduced in recent years.

The Associated Press