Protesting Chinese Depositors Scammed By Banks Mauled By Cops

Authorities have violently dispersed hundreds of Chinese depositors who staged a protest Sunday in the central city of Zhengzhou to demand their life savings be returned to them from banks that have fallen into a deep cash crisis, Nectar Gan reported for CNN.

Photo Insert: According to witnesses and social media recordings, the scene swiftly devolved into pandemonium as security officers hauled protestors down the stairs and pummeled those who resisted, including women and the elderly.

Four rural banks in China's central Henan province have frozen millions of dollars in deposits since April, endangering the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of clients in an economy already hammered by harsh COVID lockdowns.

Over the last two months, distressed depositors have held many protests in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan, but their requests have consistently fallen on deaf ears.

More than 1,000 depositors from throughout China gathered outside the Zhengzhou branch of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) on Sunday to launch their largest protest yet, according to more than a half-dozen protestors. The protest is one of the largest in China since the pandemic, with travel hampered by COVID restrictions on movement.

Last month, Zhengzhou authorities even tampered with the country's digital COVID health-code system in order to restrict depositors' movements and prevent their protest, triggering a nationwide outcry. Most demonstrators assembled outside the bank before daybreak this time, some as early as 4 a.m. — in order to escape being apprehended by police.

The elderly and children were among those who occupied a flight of imposing stairs outside the bank, singing slogans and brandishing banners. In footage shared with CNN by two demonstrators, they chanted in chorus, "Henan banks, return my savings!" while waving Chinese flags.

The face-off lasted several hours, until just after 11 a.m., when rows of security agents stormed up the stairs and clashed with protestors, who threw bottles and other small objects at them.

According to witnesses and social media recordings, the scene swiftly devolved into pandemonium as security officers hauled protestors down the stairs and pummeled those who resisted, including women and the elderly. Many people were taken aback by the security forces' abrupt eruption of violence.

"I did not expect them to be so violent and shameless this time. There was no communication, no warning before they brutally dispersed us," said one depositor from a metropolis outside Henan who had protested in Zhengzhou previously, and who requested CNN conceal his name due to safety concerns.

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