On her A Big Enough Forest blog, Liz Carter has translated an essay by social critic Li Chengpeng on the recent kidnapping-turned-murder of baby Xu Haobo. In the essay, Li also refers to the toddler who suffered multiple hit-and-runs in Guangdong province in 2011, and the lack of help she received from passersby. Both cases saw some blaming China’s social system for the horrifying occurrences. In his essay, Li Chengpeng argues that evil is to blame, a ubiquitous evil that has nothing to do with China’s system:
[…]These tragedies have nothing to do with the system, there are evil people in the world, that’s all. Sooner or later, you’re bound to come into contact with the evil of humanity. My grandfather told me, before he passed, that not all people you see walking along the streets are human: some are demons wearing human clothes.
[…]I truly don’t think it has anything to do with the system. Although China has always had this or that problem with protecting women and children, this is the result of the level of development in the economy and society. I have also done some research and found that in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, a woman who was only 20 years old put her newborn infant in the refrigerator, where the baby died. The autopsy showed that the poor child was still alive when she was put in the fridge.
[…]It’s clear that such cruel murders of infants occur in China and abroad. They just do not believe in hell. The act of killing a baby is not related to the system or education. The “human evil” of the individual is the source of violent acts.[…]
