Comment Hundreds of rural bank customers in central China’s Henan province were mobbed, beaten and dragged away by a group of unidentified men on Sunday as they protested local government corruption amid a months-long deposit freeze. Since mid-April, depositors have been pressing Henan authorities to help recover savings from at least four small “rural” banks that have stopped withdrawals. The campaign gained national attention last month after a planned demonstration in Henan’s capital, Zhengzhou, was canceled by digital health codes that mysteriously turned red. After a nationwide outcry over the misuse of the coronavirus-fighting system, the central government stepped in, punishing five local officials. Over the weekend, depositors tried again, this time with valid “green” codes. At dawn on Sunday, according to videos of the incident shared on Chinese social media, hundreds of protesters unfurled anti-corruption banners on the steps of the local branch of the People’s Bank of China, including one in English that read “No deposits. Without human rights.” How a massive Chinese ‘Ponzi scheme’ attracted investors “The Chinese dreams of 400,000 depositors in Henan have been shattered,” read another banner, referring to President Xi Jinping’s slogan that promises a better life for those who work hard and remain loyal to the Chinese Communist Party. Many waved Chinese national flags. They also accused the government of working with the “mafia” to violently suppress the protests. It is not clear exactly why the banks have frozen withdrawals, but police are currently investigating Henan New Fortune Group, a shareholder of four banks, on suspicion of illegal fundraising, according to local media reports. It is common practice for police in China to attend sensitive events without uniforms, rather than often wearing pre-determined insignia. During previous legal proceedings for Chinese human rights lawyers, foreign journalists and diplomats gathered outside the courthouse were at times shoved by unidentified people wearing identical yellow smiley badges. The unusually bold demonstrations were met by dozens of uniformed police officers as well as a group of burly men wearing mostly white T-shirts who all arrived together. Videos of the incidents, widely shared on Chinese social media before censors intervened, showed blue-clad policemen standing by as burly men in white shirts began attacking the crowd. The protesters were dragged down several flights of stairs before being carried away. Some were loaded onto buses, often bruised from the clashes. “I’ve been in shock since yesterday until today,” one protester said in an interview, asking to remain anonymous for fear of official repercussions for talking to foreign media. He repeatedly described the men as “unknown” but added “I never thought it could happen that officials could use this kind of violent beating against unarmed and defenseless regular people.” “If I hadn’t experienced it myself, I really wouldn’t have believed it. When foreign media reported similar incidents in the past, I always thought it was slander,” he said. Chinese university is the scene of a protest against the coronavirus lockdown In response to videos from the scene, Tsinghua University law professor Lao Dongyan called on the Weibo microblog for those behind the beatings to be held criminally responsible. Lao added that an “immune system” of the media and the law should have prevented depositors trying to recover their savings from plunging into such brutal scenes. “This is a sure sign that there is a problem with the immune system: All the normal avenues for seeking relief are blocked. What’s scary is that this might just be the beginning,” he said. Lost savings are a relatively common cause of protest in China, despite pervasive efforts by the stability-obsessed Chinese Communist Party to prevent public unrest. In recent years, crackdowns on poorly regulated financial products and peer-to-peer lending have repeatedly attracted investors to capital to pressure authorities to cover losses. China’s rural banks are currently the focus of a government campaign to curb debt. These institutions make up about 29 percent of all high-risk financial entities in the country as of mid-2021, according to the People’s Bank of China. Facing increased competition from larger institutions, many small banks have tried in recent years to attract depositors by using higher interest rates and also by signing up customers from around the country for online services. Bank regulations were not put in place for online finance, He Ping, a professor at Renmin University’s School of Economics, told Sanlian Lifeweek magazine. The Henan Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said on Sunday that it will speed up the verification process for customers of the four village banks under investigation and will soon announce a solution to the problem. However, whistleblowers continue to seek ways to pressure the Henan government not to ignore the case, including in comments under the official Weibo account of the United States Embassy in China. “Quick report on Zhengzhou. Save us,” wrote one user on Sunday. Vic Chiang in Taipei, Taiwan contributed to this report.
