An incident in Zhuhai has sent shockwaves through the upper echelons of the central government. In response to the event, multiple areas in Guangdong were immediately called upon to conduct inspections of individuals categorized as “eight missed” and “three low, three few” within their jurisdictions to enhance social stability.
Following the incident, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang issued directives regarding the event. Xi Jinping called for “drawing inferences from one instance to strengthen the prevention and control of risks at the source, timely resolving conflicts and disputes, and strictly preventing extreme cases.” Premier Li Keqiang instructed that “to integrate prevention and control, effectively address hidden risks and resolve social conflicts, ensuring overall social stability.”
On the afternoon of the 12th, Huang Kunming, the Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, chaired a meeting of the province’s leading group for building a safe Guangdong, to further strengthen stability work across the province.
According to reports from Chinese media Southern Metropolis Daily, Huang Kunming emphasized during the meeting the importance of giving top priority to stability work, with leaders at all levels personally taking charge and conducting thorough inspections at the grassroots level.
Subsequently, screenshots from a WeChat group called “Community Party Committee Secretary Group,” with 75 members, started circulating on Chinese social media. The screenshots revealed that communities in Guangdong were instructed to conduct detailed inspections on individuals categorized as “eight missed” and “three low, three few.”
The “eight missed” category refers to individuals who have “failed investments, lost jobs, felt disillusioned in life, faced emotional setbacks, encountered relationship conflicts, suffered mental imbalance, experienced psychological disorders, or lacked proper youth supervision.”
The “three low, three few” group includes individuals with “low income, low social status, poor reputation, limited social interactions, few opportunities for mobility, and inadequate channels for guidance.”
Furthermore, notices in residential areas in Zhuhai have suspended all mass gathering activities, including square dancing, until further notice, as of November 12th.
According to the Zhuhai Public Security Bureau, the man involved in the incident, Fan Mou, rammed his vehicle into a crowd engaged in physical activity due to dissatisfaction with the outcome of property division after his divorce.
Incidents of retaliatory acts against society have been frequent this year. On March 19, two suspected deliberate car-ramming incidents occurred in Liaoning and Zhejiang within a day; from June to October, several violent incidents including car rammings and knife attacks took place in Changchun, Suzhou, Shenzhen, and Shanghai, sparking social panic.
In response to these events, French commentator and independent film director Wang Longmeng, in an interview with Radio Free Asia, criticized Xi Jinping’s directive to control risks at their origins. He stated, “Isn’t the source himself? He is causing the decline of private enterprises and the exodus of foreign companies, leading to the collapse of the entire Chinese economy and the hardships of the people, hence the continuous occurrences of ‘Xianzhong’ incidents.”
“Xianzhong” was the leader of a peasant uprising during the late Ming Dynasty, now symbolizing perpetrators who indiscriminately harm passersby out of societal retaliation.
Wang Longmeng further suggested that following Xi Jinping’s directives, the Chinese authorities will likely conduct a comprehensive societal cleansing to identify and strictly control new sources of instability. However, he emphasized that as the Chinese authorities tighten social control, ‘Xianzhong’ will not disappear.
“Protecting the safety of the people is right; the issue lies in the fact that the Chinese Communist Party always prioritizes regime stability over resolving systemic issues such as judicial injustice that provoke public grievances,” he added.
Li Qiang, the founder and executive director of China Labor Watch, recently expressed to Voice of America, “Very few people believe in communism; the Communist Party and Xi Jinping cannot calm people’s hearts. What China needs is genuine religious freedom; folk beliefs are beneficial to people.”