Category Archives: Mass Murder & Spree Killing in China

2002 Nanjing Tangshan poisoning case 1

Nanjing Tangshan Poisoning Case (2002): Shop Owner Poisoned Rival’s Food, Killing 42 — Caught in 78 Hours and Executed

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On the early morning of September 14, 2002, in Tangshan Town, Jiangning District, Nanjing, people began a new day as usual.Students from Zuochang Middle School bought breakfast on their way to school, and on the construction site at Donghu Lidao, migrant workers ate freshly bought sesame cakes and fried dough sticks.No one realized that a deadly poison had been mixed into these seemingly ordinary foods.A few hours later, all the hospitals in Tangshan Town were filled with poisoned victims, and the death toll kept rising, eventually settling at 42.The perpetrator of this poisoning case was Chen Zhengping, the owner of another noodle and food shop in the town.His reason for poisoning was chillingly simple: his competitor’s business was better than his.

I. Two Noodle Shop Owners

Chen Zhengping, 32, was from Shangye Village, Wujiang Town, Pukou District, Nanjing, and had a junior high school education.In 1992, he had been sentenced to two years and six months in prison for theft.After completing his sentence and being released, he came to Tangshan Town in Jiangning District and opened a noodle and food shop called “Juhong,” doing breakfast business.

In Tangshan Town, there was another noodle and food shop, “Zhengwu” Noodle Shop, whose … Read More

The Chang Sheng Case

China’s Largest Maritime Massacre: The 1998 “Chang Sheng” Case and the 23 Crew Members Lost at Sea

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In November 1998, a 10,000-ton freighter quietly disappeared in the South China Sea. Aboard were 23 Chinese crew members, who, to the very end, did not know that they had boarded not an ordinary merchant shipping route, but the endpoint of a carefully planned maritime massacre. The “Chang Sheng” case was later classified as the largest maritime robbery and homicide case since the founding of New China. The cruelty of the case and the tortuous process of its investigation make it an unavoidable page in the history of China’s fight against maritime crime.

I. The Disappeared “Chang Sheng”

The “Chang Sheng” was a Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier with a total deadweight of 16,785 tons and an overall length of 146 meters. It belonged to Hong Kong Huibo Shipping Company, affiliated with Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company. On November 13, 1998, it set sail from the Baosteel wharf in Shanghai, carrying coal slag bound for Malaysia. Aboard were 23 Chinese expatriate crew members.

Under normal circumstances, it should have arrived at its destination port within a few days. But the “Chang Sheng” did not appear at any port. It lost all contact in the waters near 22 degrees 20 minutes north latitude and … Read More

The Nanping 3·23 Case of Zheng Minsheng

Nanping Primary School Stabbing (2010): Zheng Minsheng Case, 8 Dead, 5 Injured — Full Account

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On March 23, 2010, a case that shocked the entire nation occurred at the gate of Nanping Experimental Primary School in Fujian. Within the few short minutes during which students waited to enter the school in the early morning, a middle-aged man stabbed thirteen primary school students in succession with a knife, killing eight and seriously injuring five. The perpetrator, Zheng Minsheng, then forty-two years old, had formerly served as a doctor at a community health service station. What made this case draw far more attention than an ordinary criminal case at the time was not only the sheer severity of the casualties, but also the perpetrator’s choice of schoolchildren—those least capable of self-defense—as targets of his revenge, and the premeditation and coldness revealed in the course of the crime.

I. The Perpetrator

Zheng Minsheng was a native of Nanping, Fujian. Before the case, he had been a doctor at the Mazhan Community Health Service Station in Nanping, and he resigned in June 2009. In the descriptions of those around him, Zheng was introverted and did not get along well with colleagues or family. Colleagues testified that he “always felt others were out to harm him and liked to misjudge … Read More

Xiamen BRT Bus Arson 2013

Xiamen BRT Bus Arson (2013): 47 Killed in Premeditated Fire Attack

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On the evening of June 7, 2013, at 18:22, on a BRT bus rapid transit lane in Xiamen, Fujian Province, a bus suddenly burst into flames. In just over ten minutes, the fire engulfed the entire bus, causing a tragic toll of 47 deaths and 34 injuries. Among the 47 dead were 8 students who were due to sit the college entrance examination the next day.

Xiamen BRT Line 1 runs from Jimei District outside Xiamen Island to the First Pier inside the island. At the time of the accident, it was the evening rush hour, and the bus, with a capacity of 95, was carrying 89 people.

Just 300 meters after the bus passed Jinshan Station, the carriage was shrouded in a sudden burst of white smoke, followed by a rapidly spreading flame. A man in a white shirt was quickly engulfed by the fire.

People on the bus began shouting for the driver to stop. The driver sensed something was wrong and quickly opened the doors. Passengers began evacuating, and some chose to escape by jumping out of the windows.

One passenger who successfully escaped recalled that at Jinshan Station he had smelled a very obvious gasoline odor, … Read More

Shajian Village Bombing

Shajian Village Bombing: The 2000 Wedding Massacre That Killed 39 in China

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Shajian Village, located in Shuozhou City, Shanxi Province, about 10 kilometers north of Shuozhou City, is a medium-sized village with more than 700 people. Most of the villagers make a living by farming and working in nearby coal mines, and it is a well-known wealthy village in the area.

The rhythm of life for the villagers of Shajian Village follows the farming seasons and the shifts at the mines. In such a closed North China village where the villagers are all related to one another by kinship, interpersonal relationships are extremely tight, and a family’s life is almost completely exposed to the scrutiny of an acquaintance society, with almost no personal privacy to speak of.

Liu Zhanjin, a 34-year-old villager at the time, lived in this environment where there was almost no space for personal privacy. Liu Zhanjin was withdrawn and introverted by nature, almost never taking the initiative to communicate with others, and was a typical marginal figure in the village.

In his early years, Liu Zhanjin married his wife through the traditional rural matchmaking method. The two had no emotional foundation before marriage, and conflicts soon emerged after marriage.

Liu Zhanjin’s wife maintained ambiguous relationships with multiple men … Read More