Chinese media coverage of last week’s violence in South Africa was notable for how it reported on the events that led to the death of at least 200 people and caused widespread damage in many of South Africa’s largest cities including Durban, Newcastle, and Johannesburg among others.

Beyond the stock phrase that the looting and riots were “triggered by the imprisonment of former South African president Jacob Zuma,” coverage by Xinhua and other outlets focused exclusively on a narrow range of data points related to the scope of destruction, death toll, etc… but didn’t delve into the underlying factors that triggered the violence.