Man uses excavator to damage government service center in China’s Xixian New Area

China

A man used an excavator to damage a government service center in Xixian New Area, in northwest China’s Shaanxi province, on the morning of Nov. 9, local police said.

The Xixian New Area Public Security Bureau said in a notice that evening that it received a report at about 11 a.m. Beijing time. Officers restrained a 47-year-old man surnamed Hu at the scene, and no one was injured, the bureau said. Hu is now subject to what Chinese law calls criminal compulsory measures, a category that ranges from bail to formal arrest; the notice did not say which applies. The investigation is continuing.

Xixian New Area is a national-level development zone that lies between Xi’an, the provincial capital, and the neighboring city of Xianyang. Chinese media identified the site as the government service center in Fengdong New City, part of the area.

The police notice did not give a motive. A staff member at the Fengdong New City administrative committee told Chinese media that the man was unhappy with compensation for the demolition of a livestock farm. Police have not confirmed that account.

Chinese media reported that the excavator spent nearly an hour tearing down a canopy at the entrance and damaging the plaza steps and doorway of Building 1. Other buildings in the compound were also damaged, and pieces of the entrance sign fell to the ground. Staff and visitors inside were evacuated, one employee said, and special police officers restrained the driver after the excavator stopped.

A police cordon was later put up, and some service windows reopened around 3 p.m. On Nov. 10, staff at the center said normal business had resumed.