News Analysis

A wave of targeted killings against provincial and municipal officials has gripped China, with at least six prominent cases occurring in the past three months. These incidents have drawn attention to the growing social unrest and frustrations among the Chinese public amid economic hardship and political repression, China observers say.

Lai Jianping, a former Beijing lawyer and chairman of the Federation for a Democratic China in Canada, says the violence against Chinese officials is part of a broader pattern of resistance to an increasingly oppressive regime. He warns that Beijing’s efforts to maintain control through force could create a dangerous situation.

A Series of Murders

On Oct. 1, a deputy leader of the local SWAT unit killed the mayor of Shaoyang City in Hunan Province and committed suicide afterward. The murderer was a celebrated police officer who had won several awards.

While official information remains scarce due to a media blackout imposed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), independent Chinese TV producer Li Jun recently told The Epoch Times that Chinese online discussions suggest the SWAT leader’s motives included career frustration and personal conflicts.

Another high-profile case was the death of Liu Wenjie, head of the Department of Finance of Hunan Province in southern China. In mid-September, Liu, 58, fought with one of the suspects before falling from her balcony on the 13th floor.

Although the police denied any prior connection between Liu and the two suspects, Chinese media reported that the suspects were acquainted with Liu through work. Both suspects died on the same day, according to the police report. One fell from the balcony with Liu and the other fell accidentally while attempting to flee from the balcony.

In August, a chairman of a local bank in Hebei Province was stabbed to death in his office by a former employee, and a local judge in Henan Province was killed by an unsatisfied litigant over a court ruling.

In mid-July, a deputy mayor of Xianyang in China’s northwestern Shaanxi Province was murdered alongside his immediate family. While the local police were tight-lipped about the details, an unusual 48-day delay in issuing a wanted notice for the suspects fueled speculation that this was more than a simple robbery. Zhao Lanjian, a U.S.-based former Chinese journalist, also reported that the victim was the deputy mayor.

There has also been a recent rise in whistleblowing within China’s legal and law enforcement sectors, with many officials openly accusing colleagues of corruption and abuse of power.

Driving Forces Behind China’s Social Unrest

According to Lai, the growing violence against CCP officials indicates deeper, systemic problems.

“For years, ordinary Chinese people have turned on each other out of frustration, but now the anger is directed toward [CCP] officials,” Lai recently told The Epoch Times.

“The political repression and economic decline have constrained people’s living conditions, leaving many with no outlet for their grievances except violent retaliation against the very system that oppresses them.”

China’s economic woes have exacerbated tensions. Job losses, debt crises, and the deteriorating social safety net have further pushed many to the brink.

Chen Weijian, a New Zealand-based Chinese dissident and editor of the Beijing Springs magazine, wrote in a recent article that the economic downturn has made life unsustainable for many in China.

He said that most of these individuals find themselves at a dead end with no hope in sight; they suffer from mental health issues and receive no support for their welfare and well-being from society. As a result, Chen said, some choose to end their lives, while others resort to retaliating against society.

One such example was An Yaohong, a long-time state employee in Shanxi Province. His financial hardship and the CCP’s bureaucratic indifference proved devastating for him. An, whose home was demolished during a state-led property seizure, saw his life spiral into chaos after receiving no compensation for his loss. Eventually, in June, An retaliated by stabbing the CCP official overseeing the demolition.

In China, under communism, all land is owned by the state. When Chinese citizens buy a home, they only own the building. Over the years, this has resulted in millions of Chinese losing their homes through forced demolitions and forced relocations of villages and even entire towns when local governments decided to reclaim the land for more profitable use.

“The economic crisis has intensified the political crisis,” Lai said. “If economic conditions were better, some of the social and political pressures could be temporarily masked, but with the economy in decline, people are desperate.”

Chinese dissident and pro-democracy activist Wang Dan said in his recent Chinese language YouTube channel that under the CCP, the lack of rule of law has made it incredibly difficult for average citizens to seek justice and remedy wrongs. He said that most of those violent acts were committed by people at the bottom of Chinese society who have suffered from the authorities’ institutionalized abuses of power for a very long time.

Wang said that the problem in Chinese society is due to the CCP’s oppressive rule and that such cases of violent retaliation may only increase in the future.

“This [violent revenge] is not being encouraged in a society that is ruled by law,” Wang said. “But we need to emphasize that China is not a country ruled by law.”

Ning Xing contributed to this report.