The draconian Zero-COVID policy has locked down swaths of the Chinese economy. It curtailed factory output and severely hit the consumer spendings. Ever since the pandemic occurred, Covid lockdowns in China have hit businesses very hard.
But what Xi Jinping did to revive his country’s economy is something very unimaginable!
CCP froze the bank accounts of its nationals. And now that these depositors are protesting the CCP’s action, they are being brutally put down.
A million or so Chinese bank customers have reportedly been unable to access their deposits for more than two months.
Protests for their rights to access their savings
When customers of four small-town banks in Henan Province tried to make their usual withdrawals on April 18, they discovered that their accounts had been frozen. On April 18 and 19, the banks published notices regarding system updates and maintenance, as well as the cessation of internet banking and mobile banking services.
Obviously many raised questions about this move. “To us, a bank is like a state, you should feel safe with it. How can there be any issue with your savings? My bank card shows a record of regular interest payments, but I can’t withdraw [any money],” “We are regular customers of the bank—it’s about our savings accounts. It’s not an investment project. We have to fight for it,” one of the bank customers said.
But why is the Chinese Communist Party taking this step? They claim that the measure was taken to stop the circulation of illegal money and that the accounts were frozen to keep an eye on the country’s illegal investors.
“It’s my personal savings account, but now I have become an illegal investor, and I can’t access my account”, a cheated customer of the bank said.
The largest protest ever
The nation was outraged when Zhengzhou officials last month tried to stifle depositors’ freedom of movement and prevent their planned protest by messing with the nation’s digital Covid health-code system.
But they were no longer able to stop these demonstrators from calling for their rights- ‘Rights to access their life savings!’
On Sunday, more than 1,000 depositors from all across China gathered outside the People’s Bank of China’s Zhengzhou branch to launch their biggest protest to date.
Due to multiple Covid limitations on movement, the demonstration is among the biggest China has witnessed since the outbreak.
Crowds protested against suspected corruption by local officials and asked Henan banks to unfreeze their deposits. The mob, which included both young and old people, gathered outside the bank on a flight of grand stairs, chanting slogans and waving banners.
“Henan banks, return my savings!” they shouted in unison, many waving Chinese flags.
But astonishingly, the police used excessive force to disperse these protesters, and many of them suffered serious injuries.
Many others claimed that the security forces’ abrupt escalation in brutality had stunned them.
“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.
“Why would government employees beat us up? We’re only ordinary people asking for our deposits back, we did nothing wrong,” another depositor said.
All in all, Xi Jinping will have to pay a steep price for this move. As this year’s presidential elections get near and Xi is fervently seeking to win office for a third term. However, he must stop daydreaming because the Chinese people will undoubtedly punish him for the appalling economic situation and the poorly implemented zero covid policy and then take complete hold of their hard-earned life savings.
