A spate of stabbings has sparked online debate about China’s economic woes

The fatal stabbing of two people by a man at a residential compound in southern China has ignited an online debate that has amplified during a summer scarred by a spree of similar crimes across the country. Two days after those June 28 killings in the Guangxi region, national attention shifted to another stabbing incident, thousands of miles away – which was then followed by two others, also unrelated attacks in public places, taking the toll to seven dead in four provinces within two weeks.

The circumstances differed in each case; one perpetrator had been in a drunken argument, while another has a history of mental illness, according to police. All cases remain under investigation, and scant information has been released on the suspects or their motives.

The country of 1.4 billion has generally low violent crime rates and very tight gun controls. But China has been rocked by a number of high-profile stabbing cases in recent decades, including multiple such attacks at schools. What stands out about the latest stabbings is the social media debate triggered by them, which experts say reflects a growing sense of anxiety and discontent that has spread across the nation in recent years as the country’s economy struggles to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

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