The problem of Chinese people failing to help strangers in trouble has been a hot issue in China since last year’s Wang Yue incident in Fo Shan. Many people believe that China is far behind other countries when it comes to helping strangers, this was underlined when a Brazilian man was beaten in Dongguan after intervening in a mugging while security guards watched. An opinion piece in Shenzhen Daily last week put this down to the fact that Westerners come from “developed civil societies”. The issue reared its head again in Shenzhen last week.

A man in the city’s Bao’an District was killed when he was stabbed in the throat and later ignored by three security guards, according to local television. Security camera footage shows the man, surnamed Yu, being suddenly stabbed by a man wearing black on the evening of June 6, just after 7 p.m.

Yu was out for a walk with his girlfriend surnamed Tan, when Tan’s ex-boyfriend, surnamed Gong, approached them. Gong pulled a fruit knife from behind his back and stabbed Yu in the neck before fleeing. Gong was later arrested by police in Shekou Park.

The initial police investigation showed that as blood gushed from his neck, Yu stumbled toward the nearest security guard’s office at the entrance of Fugong Business Park on Shajing Road, where he was ignored. However a further investigation by a journalist, showed that not only did the three security guards refuse Yu’s request for help, they watched the entire incident unfold without lending so much as a hand.

Public intellectual Jie Wenjin angrily denounced the security guards’ inaction, calling for individuals to do their duty and make China a better society. Some netizens berated the apathy of the security guards. Another opined that security guards seldom do any good.

One netizen defended the men, arguing they could not intervene in their capacity as security guards because the incident took place outside of their jurisdiction, and they had no training in how to deal with such an extreme case. Another netizen pointed to the complicated relationship between morals and the law.

The investigation is ongoing.