May 30, 2010
China executes school stabber
<!-- by line --> <!-- end by line --> BEIJING - A CHINESE man was executed on Sunday morning for stabbing 29 children and three teachers in eastern China, the official Xinhua news agency said. A string of attacks at Chinese schools has killed a total of 27 people and injured more than 80 since March, prompting calls for better protection of students and worries about the social malaise that some see underneath China's rapid economic growth.
Xu Yuyuan, 47, a local copyshop owner, was sentenced to death on April 15 for intentional homicide, after attacking a kindergarten in Taixing city in eastern Jiangsu province last month. Nobody died in Xu's attack but four of the victims were severely injured. Chinese media have downplayed the school attacks, with Xu's execution reported in Xinhua's English service but not its Chinese service. 'Xu admitted his motive was to vent rage against society after losing money in gambling and business, while suffering other setbacks in his personal life,' Xinhua said. -- REUTERS
