Several people said security personnel in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou were injured Sunday protesting a local bank’s decision to freeze millions of dollars in deposits that it had recently received, Reuters reported.
About 1,000 people gathered in front of the Zhengzhou branch of the People’s Bank of China on July 10, demanding that the bank freeze their deposits.
Photos and videos of eyewitnesses show “contributors distributing banners and throwing plastic bottles at approaching guards and then rudely stopping some protesters,” Reuters reported.
A video shot by Reuters and released separately on July 10 shows demonstrators at a bank rally holding banners that read “No deposit, no human rights” and “Against government corruption and Henan province violence.” Zhengzhou is the capital of the east-central Henan province of China.
Describing the video content in detail, Reuters wrote:
Citizens were warned by phone to leave the area after the clash.
“What you did was outlawed. Exit after 10 minutes. “The police will take drastic action if you do not follow the instructions of the staff in the area, if you do not leave and if you continue to destroy the community,” it said.
The security guards ran towards them and heard a male voice shout: “Thieves! Monsters! Monsters!
“I’m so sorry I can’t explain it to you,” a 40-year-old protester named Zhang told the news agency.
Zhang said he had “injured his foot and thumb” and “was picked up by four unidentified security personnel” after demonstrating outside a bank at noon on July 10.
“There were about three times as many security personnel as the protesters,” he said.
“These [security personnel] They didn’t say they would beat us if we refused to go. They used the loudspeaker to say we were breaking the law by petitioning. This is ridiculous. Banks are breaking the law,” Zhang said.
The man said he attended Sunday’s rally as part of efforts to recover the nearly 170,000 yuan ($25,000) he had invested in Zhecheng Huanghuai Community Bank, one of the banks hit by the deposit freeze.
Authorities managing banks froze millions of dollars in deposits in April. Officials explained the actions to customers, saying they are “updating their internal systems,” but declined to provide further information or updates. Affected deposits remain frozen after three months.
Chinese authorities are reportedly investigating banks involved in “illegal fundraising.” Global Times. The newspaper described the businesses as “small rural banks registered in Henan Province” and identified these as including Yuzhou Xinminsheng Village Bank and Shangcai Huimin Country Bank.
“More than 1,000 depositors from all over the country planned to gather in Zhengzhou last month to withdraw their money, but the COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus] Reuters reminded that on July 10, health codes indicating whether you can travel or not have been moved to “you are not allowed to travel” status.
“Five officers were subsequently fined for misusing the health code system,” the news agency said.
Source: Breitbart
