A man who killed dozens of people by driving his car into people exercising outside a stadium in southern China has been sentenced to death.
Fan Weiqiu was charged with “endangering public safety,” according to a court statement.
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured in the November 11 attack in Zhuhai, considered the deadliest on Chinese soil in a decade.
The 62-year-old decided to drive his car at high speed into crowds at a race track because he was “dissatisfied” with the way his assets had been divided following his divorce, the court heard.
The court described his motivations as “extremely vile” and “the methods” as “particularly cruel”. A witness told news magazine Caixin he drove “in a loop”, leaving victims “injured in all areas of the race track” – a popular place to exercise.
Fan – who was initially said to have been in a coma after suffering a knife wound – admitted his guilt in front of the victims' families and members of the public, Chinese media reported.
The attack was one of 19 attacks targeting foreigners that have taken place across China this year, including two in the week after the Zhuhai attack.
Not all of them involved vehicles. In February, a massive stabbing and gun attack in Shandong left at least 21 people dead. This incident was heavily censored by Chinese authorities.
In total, at least 63 people were killed and 166 injured in these attacks. This is a sharp increase compared to previous years – 16 killed and 40 injured in 2023 for example.
Some have suggested that the increase in random attacks could indicate a general increase in frustration and anger as the economy slows and uncertainty about the future increases.
“These are symptoms of a society with a lot of pent-up grievances,” Lynette Ong, a professor of Chinese politics at the University of Toronto in Canada, told the AFP news agency in November.
