Now that guards have been posted outside schools in China and at least one city has implemented a “shoot to kill” policy against anyone who wages a violent attack against students, many Chinese citizens are questioning the connections between the recent attacks and deep-seated social ills in China today. From the Christian Science Monitor:
Chinese officials and citizens, meanwhile, continued to ponder the social and emotional strains in China’s tightly controlled but rapidly changing society, searching for an explanation for the shocking wave of violence.
A top member of the ruling Communist party appeared to suggest Monday that the perpetrators of five separate attacks on primary schools and kindergartens over the past five weeks may have acted out of frustration with social injustice rather than just mental instability.
“Party and government officials should maintain close contact with local communities, work units, and families to familiarize themselves with public opinion and resolve peoples’ complaints,” said Zhou Yongkang, a member of the nine-man Standing Committee of the Communist party Politburo at a conference on maintaining stability.
