› Login to comment

3 Comments

• 

  Betzee at 09:19 AM JST - 11th August

  It's interesting how much discussion this incident, tragic for the victims and their families, has generated in Chinese chatroom forums beyond just concern over how it would affect China's image.

  The perpetrator, age 47, has been identified. He was a resident of a different city who lost his state job when the factory was closed. Thereafter he held a series of temporary jobs, including security guard, which didn't provide the income and benefits he had previously enjoyed. Along the way his marriage broke up and he had no place to live, ending up in a rented room.

  As the details of a life which otherwise wouldn't have merited much attention become known, it has focused attention on the plight of those who haven't done well in the transition to a free market economy as well as on the need to diagnose and treat mental illness before a violent crime occurs.

  Chinese are accustomed to reading about alienated American male loners who take out their frustrations on others by opening fire in a public place before taking their own life. But this is the first time they've confronted such behavior in their own society.

• 

  Helter_Skelter at 08:54 AM JST - 12th August

  Betzee,

  There's no question this guy came upon hard luck. And I could even understand him wanting to commit suicide. But the real story here is why he wanted to murder a couple of tourists on his way out. Simply being impoverished doesn't explain that.

• 

  Betzee at 11:22 AM JST - 12th August

  But the real story here is why he wanted to murder a couple of tourists on his way out. Simply being impoverished doesn't explain that.

  He perpetrated the crime in a major tourist site which attracts its share of foreign visitors (along with droves of Chinese). It's possible he reasoned, correctly, that killing foreigners would garner him more publicity. A high-profile crime is the way some American mass murderers choose to go out (like the Virginia Tech killer). Certainly jumping off the drum tower is an unusual way to commit suicide and that would have at least made local news.

  It's also possible he fixated on a couple of foreigners he happened to catch a glimpse of. I was in the same situation myself in China many years ago, only the circumstances were different. I was visiting some secondary tourist sites outside Xian when I heard a truck go by from which there was a lot of music emanating. Thinking it was connected to a festival I turned to look before realizing it was carry condemned prisoners to the execution ground. The ones facing my side of the street all made eye contact with me, a foreign face in the crowd, simply because I stood out. It was rather grim when gun shots were heard in the distance.

Register or Login to leave a comment