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       Six Dead After Stabbing at a Preschool in China

       The police in southern China arrested a 25-year-old man in relation to the attack. Knife attacks are not uncommon in China, and many have targeted schools.

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       In this still image obtained from a social media video, police on Monday secure the scene near a kindergarten where a fatal stabbing attack occurred in Lianjiang, China. Credit...Video Obtained By Reuters

       By Vivian Wang

       Reporting from Beijing

       July 10, 2023

       阅读简体中文版 阅读繁体中文版

       Six people were killed in a knife attack at a preschool in China’s southern Guangdong Province on Monday.

       The attack occurred around 7:40 a.m., according to a statement from the local police in Lianjiang, a city of less than 2 million about 300 miles west of Shenzhen. A 25-year-old local man surnamed Wu was arrested. No potential motive was given.

       A statement from the police did not give information about the victims, but state media reports said that residents had seen one child and two adults lying on the ground near the preschool’s entrance. In addition to the six dead, one person was injured.

       Knife attacks are not uncommon in China, where guns are tightly controlled and shootings exceedingly rare. And many stabbing rampages have targeted schools. Last August, an assailant killed three people and wounded six others at a kindergarten in Jiangxi Province in China’s southeast. In 2021, two people died and 16 were injured in an attack at a kindergarten in the southwestern region of Guangxi.

       The government has called on schools to boost security, especially after a string of school attacks in 2010 that left more than two dozen people dead, including 19 children. The attackers in such cases have usually been sentenced severely, sometimes to death.

       The authorities have often attributed the attacks to people with “grudges” or those seeking “revenge on society.” Experts and some officials have suggested that the attackers are acting out of frustration with China’s rapidly changing society and social stressors such as unemployment. But mental health resources in China remain sparse, and the social safety net thin.

       The government also strictly controls information about such attacks, as well as other tragedies. Victims’ names are usually not made public, and relatives are sometimes prevented from speaking out.

       Vivian Wang is a China correspondent based in Beijing, where she writes about how the country's global rise and ambitions are shaping the daily lives of its people. More about Vivian Wang

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