Illustration: Sun Ying

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Reason falters as both sides throw blame

Petition system can still have purpose

Editor's Note:

Qu Huaqiang, a disabled villager in Tengjia, Rongcheng, Shandong Province detonated a home-made explosive in the yard of the town government on September 3, killing himself and injuring six staff members. Qu had been making petitions in the past few years to demand fair medical compensation for his paralysis caused by a work accident, but gained no results. An increasing number of Chinese are turning to extreme and violent means to guard their rights. Why are these cases on the rise? How can the trend be curbed? The Global Times asked experts and writers to talk about these issues.

 After Qu set off the home-made explosive that killed himself and injured six others, he was portrayed online by some as a hero who sacrificed himself to show the darkness of society.

Qu's sufferings could naturally arouse public sympathy. Falling electric machinery on a construction site left him paralyzed in 1994. According to several blog articles by him in 2008, he was forced to sign the original compensation agreement, and at that time no one explained to him the legal grounds for the compensation. He had petitioned to authorities at various levels to demand fair compensation in the past years after consulting some lawyers, but had always been frustrated.

One can imagine why Qu was so desperate that he chose the extreme way out. Whether Qu was unfairly treated should be carefully investigated. However, his suicide attack should never be defended, praised or encouraged. Hostility against society has been accumulating in these years, and any negative social news could trigger massive suspicions and criticism of government, whatever the truth is. Such a trend shouldn't be further fueled.

Malignant cases venting discontent and anger against society are not exclusive to China. The US in the past few months has seen a series of shooting cases that killed many innocent people. The desperate men may all have their own excuses. But a violent way bringing harm to others and the society can never be justified by any excuse.

China's petition system now has been trapped in an unprecedented situation. It creates more trouble than the problems it has solved. Public opinion should protect the disadvantaged, but it doesn't mean it should tolerate and indulge violence.  

For Qu's case, public opinion should supervise the investigation of the case and demand the facts. But meanwhile, we need to probe deeper than this one attack, such as into how to improve China's medical compensation system and how to provide legal consultation for those in need.

Criticizing Qu's attack doesn't contradict seeking justice for him. When it comes to people using violence to safeguard their rights, public opinion should be rational. This could protect the interests of the whole society in the long run. 

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. yujincui@globaltimes.com.cn