On October 8th, a suspected deliberate car ramming incident occurred in Taian City, Shandong Province, China, according to netizens, resulting in 2 deaths and 3 injuries. This is the second car ramming incident involving students in the local area in over a month, causing panic online.
Witnesses uploaded videos showing the incident near Wangshan Guesthouse in Taishan District of Taian City. A vehicle suddenly collided with students who had just crossed the zebra crossing after school.
The footage shows four vehicles stopped on the road, with one vehicle severely damaged at the front and an electric motorcycle destroyed. In the video, three people are seen on the ground, two showing no response, one able to move their arms. Additionally, a woman is seen sitting on the ground holding a child.
According to information from local netizens, the incident resulted in 2 deaths and 3 injuries. Another netizen mentioned, “Yesterday at noon, I saw the scene where the electric vehicle hit people scattered on the ground. At that time, I only saw a woman sitting on the ground, and later in the evening, I found out that a child and an adult had passed away.” Netizens stated, “After the incident, a ‘student passage’ was set up, with isolation tape drawn.”
Regarding the cause of the incident, some netizens mentioned, “There are rumors that the car’s tires burst, causing it to not stop.”
However, some netizens argued, “Even if all four tires burst, stepping on the brakes can still slow down the vehicle. Moreover, at such a busy intersection, one should definitely reduce speed in advance. This is an act of retaliating against society.”
An eyewitness also commented, “The speed at which the car hit the child, making them fly, must have been at least 80, so what does it have to do with a tire burst?”
Another local netizen mentioned, “I just watched the footage from the car owner’s dashboard camera; the white car showed no signs of braking, it just swiftly passed by. The child was tossed in the air several times, it’s heartbreaking, a precious life lost like that.”
However, authorities did not report the accident, and there are no related reports online. Some netizens mentioned that on the day of the incident, related videos were censored on mainland Chinese social media platforms. A search on social media by reporters only yielded a few scattered videos.
The incident has sparked fear online. Many netizens expressed their concerns, saying, “It’s Taian again, just last month a few people were killed in a similar incident.” “The incident from last month hasn’t even cooled down yet.” “What fault do the children have?” “There’s a cause for every effect, killing children makes one no different from a beast.”
“Shandong used to be known for its honesty and righteousness, but now they’ve started to recklessly kill innocents.” “People’s despair is escalating to societal revenge, spreading further.”
Others expressed, “Shandong has the heaviest bureaucratic atmosphere and the most ignorant obedient people. If Shandong descends into chaos, a change in regime may not be far off.”
In recent years, China’s society has seen an increasing amount of retaliatory incidents. For example, on March 1st, in Dezhou City, Shandong Province, a man suspected of driving drunk after ingesting pesticides hit students in retaliation, resulting in around 40 people being hit, with 7 deaths and the driver dying after ineffective rescue efforts.
On March 19th, Shenyang in Liaoning Province, Taizhou in Zhejiang Province, and Beijing consecutively witnessed three suspected deliberate car ramming incidents resulting in dozens of casualties.
On May 20th, a malicious stabbing incident occurred at Wenzhongmingde Elementary School in Guixi City, Jiangxi Province, where a woman wielding a knife injured multiple students.
On September 3rd, a school bus in Taian City, Shandong Province, collided with middle school students, leading to 11 deaths and 13 injuries.
When it comes to such incidents, former Beijing lawyer and chairman of the Democratic China Front of Canada, Lai Jianping, believes that the pervasive hostility in Chinese society today is an inevitable consequence of the Chinese Communist Party’s authoritarian rule and oppression.
He previously told Epoch Times that on one hand, economic crises have left social members unable to maintain a normal life. Secondly, at the political and social levels, citizens in a dictatorial society might face various forms of oppression without the means to protect their legitimate rights. Additionally, disputes among the public arise, where people’s rights are violated, and yet official action is lacking. These reasons contribute to widespread dissatisfaction in Chinese society, leading to rising public grievances.
However, Lai Jianping is of the opinion that such individuals should target the dictatorship of the Communist Party, rather than directing their violence towards helpless common people and innocents. “I personally condemn this behavior on moral grounds, but fundamentally, we should condemn the Communist Party’s dictatorial rule.”