In wake of massacre Beijing resets government and security bodies in Zhuhai

In the Guangdong city where a man ran over and killed dozens of people, all administration and law enforcement officials have been replaced. This was an indication of the Party’s concern over the tragedy, which brought up the issue of violence linked to social resentment. Xi Jinping himself had urged all relevant authorities to ‘strengthen risk prevention and control at source’.

Zhuhai (AsiaNews) – In Zhuhai, the city in China’s Guandong province that was the scene of the massacre carried out by a man in an SUV, the Beijing authorities have decided to replace the heads of the local government and public security, blaming them for the attack.

Initial reports spoke of at least 35 dead and 43 injured, before silence was imposed on the tragedy caused by the act of a man named Fan who plunged into the crowd doing gymnastics. He had justified his gesture to the police with resentments related to his separation case.

Demonstrating just how alarmed the Chinese Communist Party’s top leadership has become by the resignation of the city’s mayor Huang Zhihao and the director of the public security bureau Xie Rensi, announced this morning on the WeChat account of the Zhuhai People’s Congress Standing Committee.

In the social media statement, it is announced that the congress has appointed Wu Zetong as acting mayor and Qiao Lei as deputy mayor and head of public security. Both were chosen from outside Zhuhai. Liu Qiying, governor of Xiangzhou district, where the attack took place, and deputy governor Fu Hui also resigned. Zhang Huiyang, a party committee member from neighbouring Zhongshan, was appointed interim district governor.

Huang has been mayor of Zhuhai since January 2021, while Xie was assigned in December 2021. It is rare in China to see a high-level personnel reshuffle of this magnitude. Usually, top executives are never replaced all at once, a circumstance that confirms the great concern aroused by the massacre, the tip of the iceberg of China’s proliferation of outbreaks of violence related to family and social issues.

In response to the Zhuhai massacre, President Xi Jinping himself had urged all relevant authorities to learn lessons from the case and strengthen risk prevention and control at source. He had also stressed the importance of resolving disputes in time, preventing the occurrence of extreme cases and making every effort to safeguard people’s life security and social stability.

ASIA ONE