President Xi Jinping has built a sprawling security system to prevent violent forces from destabilizing society. A new wave of deadly attacks is putting pressure on the authorities to extend this state of surveillance.

China was stunned this month by its the deadliest act of public violence since a series of terrorist attacks shook the isolated region of Xinjiang in 2014. Dozens of people were hospitalized and 35 people were killed in the bloody car-ramming attack in the city of Zhuhai, which was the culmination of a wave of violence this year – mainly stabbings – which sparked national concern.