In the city of Guangdong where a man ran over and killed dozens of people, all government and law enforcement officials have been replaced. A sign of the Party’s concern for the tragedy, which brought to the table the issue of violence linked to social resentment. Xi Jinping himself had urged all competent authorities to “strengthen the prevention and control of risks at their source.”
Zhuhai () – In Zhuhai, the city in the Chinese province of Guandong that was the scene of the massacre perpetrated by a man in an SUV, the Beijing authorities have decided to replace those responsible for local government and public security, blaming them of the attack. The first reports spoke of at least 35 dead and 43 injured, before silence was imposed on the tragedy caused by the act of a man called Fan who threw himself into the crowd while doing gymnastics. He had justified his gesture to the police with resentments related to his separation case.
Demonstrating the extent to which this matter alarms the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, the resignation of the city’s mayor, Huang Zhihao, and the director of the public security bureau, Xie Rensi, took place yesterday: they were announced this morning on the account of WeChat of the Standing Committee of the Zhuhai People’s Congress. In the social network statement it is announced that the congress has appointed Wu Zetong as acting mayor and Qiao Lei as deputy mayor and director of public security. Both were chosen outside of Zhuhai. Liu Qiying, governor of Xiangzhou district, where the attack occurred, and vice-governor Fu Hui also resigned. Zhang Huiyang, a party committee member from neighboring Zhongshan, was named acting district governor.
Huang has been mayor of Zhuhai since January 2021, while Xie was appointed in December 2021. It is rare in China to see a high-level personnel reshuffle of this magnitude. Normally, senior officials are never replaced all at once, a circumstance that confirms the great concern raised by the massacre, the tip of the iceberg of the proliferation in China of outbreaks of violence related to family and social issues.
In response to the Zhuhai massacre, President Xi Jinping himself had urged all relevant authorities to learn the lessons of the case and strengthen risk prevention and control at their source. He had also emphasized the importance of resolving conflicts in time, preventing the emergence of extreme cases and doing everything possible to safeguard the safety of people’s lives and social stability.
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