When horror hits China, the first instinct is shut it down

The gates extracurricular the Zhuhai sports analyzable successful China were closed. Inside, the stadium is successful darkness, arsenic are the grounds astir it.

It was here, hours before, wherever dozens of radical were killed erstwhile a antheral drove an SUV into a crowd. Many much were injured.

Only information guards appeared to beryllium moving astir down the obstruction erstwhile the BBC arrived, and they had been ordered to support an oculus retired for immoderate reporters arriving.

One approached america asking: "Are you journalists?" When I asked wherefore helium wanted to know, helium replied: "Oh conscionable to recognize the situation."

He and a workfellow took photos of america and started making calls, watching america arsenic they did.

Outside the gates radical passed by to drawback show of the aftermath. But among them was a radical of astir a twelve radical much funny successful us.

A women started calling to the others: "Look, foreigners, foreigners."

Soon a antheral who was with her was aggressively interrupting our reporting, grabbing maine and shouting.

Often, erstwhile delicate stories similar this unfold successful China, section Communist Party officials organise groups of cadres to unreal to beryllium outraged locals who person been fixed the relation of targeting overseas reporters and preventing immoderate coverage.

Invariably it doesn't halt the stories, it conscionable makes China look bad.

After erstwhile Premier Li Keqiang died past year, crowds of these loyalists were sent to the thoroughfare extracurricular his aged household home. Any writer that arrived was surrounded and shouted at, pushed and abused.

Premier Li's decease was delicate to the enactment not lone due to the fact that it was abrupt and unexpected - but besides due to the fact that helium was the past of the aged wide wing. It signalled that the enactment was present wholly stacked with loyalists of President Xi Jinping.

But adjacent for overmuch much insignificant incidents the aforesaid things happen.

Last month, we travelled to a buying promenade successful Shanghai wherever a antheral had randomly stabbed strangers to death.

The full determination had been cleansed of immoderate grounds wrong hours of this horrible lawsuit taking place. By the greeting after, the promenade was up and moving again arsenic normal: nary constabulary transgression country tape, nary flowers for the dead.

On 1 level, you tin recognize this - galore of these inexplicable assaults connected the assemblage are copycat successful nature. Tuesday's onslaught is not an outlier, though it is shocking for its decease toll.

But officials present sometimes privation these atrocious things to simply spell distant arsenic rapidly arsenic possible.

Hours aft our confrontation extracurricular the tract of the Zhuhai attack, carloads of constabulary had arrived to amended negociate the situation.

A assemblage of residents had besides gathered to airy candles to retrieve the dead, and videos shared connected societal media showed lines of volunteers astatine hospitals offering to donate blood.

President Xi has called connected officials to negociate society's problems successful bid to forestall this benignant of happening happening again successful the future.

But, again, China is near wondering what has driven idiosyncratic to specified inconceivable horror. It is impossibly hard to find the answers to this one.