China has set up a special task force focused on beefing up school security, state media said yesterday, after three violent campus attacks against young children in as many days this week.
Chinese Vice Minister of Education Hao Ping (郝平) said emergency management was a “heavy task,” as police patrols near school grounds were bolstered to protect the country’s 270 million students, Xinhua news agency reported.
Hao said 22 university and government experts would investigate “public incidents” in the education system and explore new ways to ensure “scientific emergency management” in the nation’s schools. His remarks came after a farmer attacked children with a hammer at a primary school in eastern China on Friday before setting himself on fire — the latest in a wave of assaults that has left eight children dead and 50 people injured.
The farmer’s rampage in Shandong Province left five children and a teacher hurt but in stable condition, Xinhua said.
On Thursday, a jobless man apparently angry over a series of personal and professional setbacks slashed 29 children and three adults with a knife used to slaughter pigs in an attack at a kindergarten in the eastern city of Taixing.
Video footage posted online after the attack shows people said to be parents of the students marching on a street in protest and demanding to see their injured children.
The footage could not be independently verified and a spokesman for the Taixing government declined to comment on the apparent demonstration yesterday.
On Wednesday, a 33-year-old teacher on sick leave due to mental problems injured 15 students and a teacher in a knife attack at a primary school in Guangdong Province.
The assailants in both the Taixing and Guangdong attacks were arrested and all victims were said to be out of life-threatening condition.
Also on Wednesday, authorities in Fujian province in the southeast executed a former doctor for stabbing to death eight children and injuring five others on March 23 in a fit of rage after he split with his girlfriend.
The attacks underscore how China — which has enjoyed lower violent crime rates than the West — faces a growing public safety threat from disgruntled individuals amid rising mental illness rates and looser social controls.
The education ministry on Friday issued an “urgent” notice calling on schools to strengthen security, tighten restrictions on campus visitors and devise emergency plans.
“We must establish a safety first, prevention first concept,” the ministry said in the notice, posted on its Web site.
Minister of Education Yuan Guiren (袁貴仁) said students should be given a “basic knowledge of self-defense” and security cameras installed at school entrances and other “important areas” to prevent further attacks, the Beijing News said.
PARLIAMENT CHAOS: Police forcibly removed Brazilian Deputy Glauber Braga after he called the legislation part of a ‘coup offensive’ and occupied the speaker’s chair Brazil’s lower house of Congress early yesterday approved a bill that could slash former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence for plotting a coup, after efforts by a lawmaker to disrupt the proceedings sparked chaos in parliament. Bolsonaro has been serving a 27-year term since last month after his conviction for a scheme to stop Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 election. Lawmakers had been discussing a bill that would significantly reduce sentences for several crimes, including attempting a coup d’etat — opening up the prospect that Bolsonaro, 70, could have his sentence cut to
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
A powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook Japan’s northeast region late on Monday, prompting tsunami warnings and orders for residents to evacuate. A tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) could hit Japan’s northeastern coast after an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.6 occurred offshore at 11:15 p.m. (1415 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. Tsunami warnings were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, and a tsunami of 40cm had been observed at Aomori’s Mutsu Ogawara and Hokkaido’s Urakawa ports before midnight, JMA said. The epicentre of the quake was 80 km (50 miles) off the coast of
Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro on Friday said that his father, jailed former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, has chosen him to lead the country’s powerful conservative movement, shaking up next year’s election race. The 44-year-old senator said on social media that he will carry forward the political legacy that reshaped Brazilian politics. His announcement makes him an instant contender for the presidency. Jair Bolsonaro, 70, is unlikely to run after being sentenced to 27 years for plotting a coup and banned from public office. He is appealing and seeking a legislative pardon. The former president also faces serious health issues, including complications from a
RSS