The Golden Triangle is what residents of Shuikou, an industrial part of Kaiping, call their town, due to its booming economy and unique location, circled by several larger cities.
Growing numbers of migrants, however, combined with falling numbers of police and rising crime levels in the area have also won Shuikou the nickname “Sin City”. With a population of 160,000, writes Southern Metropolis Daily, Shuikou has just 32 full-time police officers.
The most developed town in Kaiping and surrounding areas, Shuikou is also home to Panlong Road, where more than 200 electrical shops, clothing stores, herbal tea shops, street vendors and residential buildings are located within a kilometer stretch, making the area an attractive target for violent muggers.
Anxiety there has risen following two recent incidents in which shoppers on the street were chopped on different limbs in separate robbery attacks.
The latest incident took place at around 9 pm on November 20, and was brought to the public’s attention by one netizen posing his account of the attack on a local community forum.
Other witnesses recounted seeing the whole “leg chop” incident: “I just went by there and saw a pool of barely-dried blood. It’s said that a man was cut in the leg. It was so horrible and disgusting that I didn’t even have the guts to take that photo!” More terrifying, a similar attack took place on Panlong Road just a few days earlier.
“We can understand the voice of the masses,” said Zheng Weikang, a local police director, “but they don’t understand our shortage of officers. Actually, we have the second highest solve rate in Kaiping.”
“Everybody knows that the guy fell down in front of the post office.”
Owners and staff of nearby shops have sharp memories of the bloody scene from November 20. Mr. Wu, a boutique employee, recalled rushing to the street with everyone else to see what had happened. Two days after the incident, he said, a pool of dark red blood could still be seen clearly in front of the post office.
Several ladies in an adjacent shop witnessed the attack: “Around 9:10, we heard a guy’s voice and we thought it was robbery. We ran and saw a man in his 20s, in a short white t-shirt, jeans and white sneakers, lying on the ground outside the post office. His right ankle had been chopped off, exposing the bone, held on by a bit of skin. His right hand was injured and his wrist was hurt too. Those who robbed him had already fled.”
Locals warn to never wear earrings or carry bags in streets. A Ms. Liang, interviewed by Southern Metropolis Daily, said she’s been robbed 3 times this year alone, with muggers once making off with a whole day’s worth of wages.
