China has been hit by a series of explosions in the last week. The facts in the two cases have nothing in common, but the circumstances behind them suggest there is a link. Both blasts are the product of the mounting pressure created by economic modernization. China is under increasing strain; more such incidents are sure to result.
The first explosion occurred in an elementary school in the village of Fanglin, in southeastern Jiangxi Province. At least 42 people, almost all of them children, are reported to have been killed in the blast. Authorities first claimed that "a suicidal madman" was responsible. But parents say that the children had been assembling fireworks, a local industry, at the school.
As the country reeled from that tragedy, there was a series of blasts in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province in the north. According to news reports, four explosions occurred minutes apart in the early hours of Saturday morning. The strongest reportedly leveled a five-story dormitory. As many as 200 people are said to have been killed in the explosion. It is unclear who or what caused the blast, but the size and timing of the explosions suggest they were deliberate. Shijiazhuang has been hit by labor unrest in the past, which fuels suspicions that disgruntled workers could be responsible.