In recent times, there have been frequent grassroots accidents in mainland China, including the Yanjiao explosion in Hebei and the tragic murder of a middle school student in Handan. In response, Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of the Global Times, recently wrote an article acknowledging that there have been quite a few grassroots accidents lately. He believes that formalism has led to systemic laxity at the grassroots level, and the trend of increasing malignant accidents may be difficult to stop.
In his article titled “What’s Going On? There have been quite a few malignant accidents at the grassroots level lately!” Hu Xijin pointed out that there have been quite a few grassroots accidents recently, including fires, explosions, building collapses, and bizarre malignant cases such as the brutal murder of three middle school students in Handan. He stated that although China is so large that incidents happen frequently, he still feels something is amiss. Several experts and scholars privately discussed that “there are more people lying flat at the grassroots level, more busy with formalism, and more attention is given to dealing with superiors.” However, fewer people are truly focusing on their primary duties, often just getting by, leading to a constant stream of accidents.
Hu Xijin mentioned the serious fire that occurred in February in the Ming Shang Xi Yuan community in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. He noted that there had been two previous fires there, yet the underlying issues were not addressed. The underground parking lot was densely packed with electric cars and lacked necessary firefighting equipment. If the grassroots work had maintained its sense of responsibility and fulfilled its duties properly, this incident could have been avoided. He expressed concern that grassroots work has become more about superficial efforts, turning primary responsibilities into side jobs or hobbies. This is not an isolated case, which is why he is genuinely worried. He believes that due to formalism causing systemic laxity in grassroots work, there seems to be a trend of increasing malignant accidents over time, which may be difficult to halt.
Hu Xijin further pointed out that logically, with advancements in technology and an increasing number of tools and methods for monitoring and preventing accidents, along with increased investment in safety, Chinese society as a whole should be becoming safer. Therefore, he called for reducing the burden on grassroots workers, allowing teachers to focus on education and take responsibility for each student, and enabling every worker, including community cadres, to invest the majority of their energy into their primary duties. This means reducing the amount of paperwork, summaries, inspections, and research from superiors, minimizing excessive preparation for societal or unit activities, and holding fewer meetings. He believes that by letting everyone focus on what they should be doing, the quality of grassroots governance in Chinese society will continuously improve, and various risks will decrease accordingly.