On Sunday, July 10 2022, photos and videos of protests taking place in front of the Zhengzhou local branch of the People’s Bank of China were trending on Weibo, showing some protesters got wounded and injured as the protest was broken up with force. Many of these images and posts were soon censored.
Post about the July 10 protest, images are censored (Weibo).
The story starts in April of this year when people discovered that they were unable to withdraw money they had invested in online deposit products offered by various smaller regional banks: their deposits had been frozen.
Some people had deposited money via the Baidu money app (Du Xiaoman Financial 度小满), others had used another third-party platform, intermediaries, or one of the mini-programs run by the banks themselves.
By early May, it had become clear that dozens of depositors who once thought they had invested their money wisely had actually been duped. Four of the banks involved are located in Henan province, namely: the Yuzhou Xinminsheng Village Bank (禹州新民生村镇银行), Shangcai Huimin County Bank (上蔡惠民村镇银行), Zhecheng Huanghuai Community Bank (柘城黄淮村镇银行), and the Kaifeng New Oriental Country Bank (开封新东方村镇银行). But there are also other smaller banks involved, including Guzhen Xinhuaihe Rural Bank (固镇新淮河村镇银行) and Yixian Xinhuaihe Rural Bank (黟县新淮河村镇银行) in Anhui.
Although news about the duped depositors was circulating online for weeks, it did not make it to the top trending lists until mid June of this year, when people who planned to protest in Zhengzhou saw their Health Codes turn red, making them unable to go anywhere. This triggered online discussions that the duped depositors were specifically targeted and that their Health Codes were being manipulated by authorities.
This past Sunday, the depositors gathered in Zhengzhou again at the People’s Bank of China sub-branch, where hundreds of people protested the injustice they suffered, carrying signs that said “without [getting our] deposits, there are no human rights.”
Some carried banners that did not just protest the illegal freezing of legal accounts, but also condemned how China’s Health Code system was allegedly abused by local authorities to prevent depositors from gathering to protest.
Videos showed how some protesters were beaten and dragged away by a group of men. Online, the incident was described as the “7.10 Zhengzhou People’s Bank of China Beating Incident” (#710郑州人民银行打人事件#).
“Democracy and the rule of law, fairness and justice?!”, some Weibo commenters wrote, with another person commenting: “Does the government still think it’s ’89?” “The People’s Bank of China should serve the people!”
Protest image showing the characters for “Henan” adapted in such a way to include the red code and money symbol.
On Monday, July 11th, the Henan Banking Insurance Regulatory Bureau published an announcement together with the Henan Provincial Financial Supervision and Administration that they will advance deposits for clients of the involved local banks (also see Global Times report in English).
One news thread dedicated to this announcement received over 250,000 comments, with many commenters writing things like: “Good! I hope they will finally get their money back now,” and “If this is how the problems can be solved, the common people will naturally support it.”
Meanwhile, many online discussions on the Henan banking issue are still focused on the violence that was used to disperse the demonstrators and the censorship ensuing the event. “People should be allowed to speak,” various commenters said, defending the right of common people to demand their money back.
One Weibo user posted screenshots of all the related hashtags that got censored, writing: “It’s frightening that ordinary people who worked hard to save money cannot have a final say themselves, [instead] they are beaten like little kids* when they want to withdraw it, and they have to beg for mercy by shouting don’t beat me, I don’t want this money anymore. The majority of netizens cannot vent their emotions, all kinds of topics were deleted. Is this what has become of our “rule of law” society?”
“What even exactly happened in Zhengzhou,” another commenter wondered: “And why haven’t our media reported on it?”
By Manya Koetse
* Free translation, literal expression “取钱要像孙子一样挨打” – in this context meaning someone who won’t fight back and just obediently does what they’re told in line with respect for elderly.
Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. First-time commenters, please be patient – we will have to manually approve your comment before it appears.
©2022 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.
The post Henan Bank Protests: Duped Depositors to Receive Advanced Payment, but Anger Remains appeared first on What's on Weibo.