Barack Obama is not the only politician in the world with a healthcare problem. Many US voters may hate Obamacare, but their pique pales in comparison with the anger of those who will not be voting for China’s new generation of political leaders next month. They are taking up knife and cudgel to vent their spleen directly on doctors, since they cannot do it through the ballot box.

In 2010, the last year for which official figures are available, the health ministry says there were 17,000 protests or attacks directed against doctors or hospitals in China. The number of incidents, which continues to rise at a double-digit rate each year, may have more than doubled since 2005, official estimates indicate.

When China’s political leaders meet on November 8 for the most important Communist party congress in a decade, they will not need to count ballots to gauge the mood of the nation: they can count knife wounds.