China bank scandal protesters report harassment, restrictions
- Several depositors in the Henan banks at the centre of fraud allegations say they have been called by police or had their social media use limited
- The affected customers travelled to a protest in Zhengzhou on Sunday that ended with a violent attack
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A depositor surnamed Wang – whose information was registered on Sunday along with other protesters demanding a fair payment plan from the government – said he received a call from the local police after returning home on Monday.
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Victims of one of China’s worst financial scandals attacked by unidentified men in white at protest
“He asked us to express our concerns in a legal and logical manner, do not gather and do not turn [the situation] into a riot,” Wang said. “But the thing is, the government had given us red health codes and caught us. They were illegal first, and there’s no word on our savings.”
Discontent among depositors of four rural banks in Henan province has been growing for months, after they were unable to withdraw their money in April. The problem was blamed on a systems upgrade.
Last month, officials abused the Covid-19 health controls to give red codes to depositors in a bid to stop them travelling to the provincial capital Zhengzhou, where the protests have been concentrated. At least five officials were punished for the misuse of the codes.
Another depositor who attended the Sunday protest said he had also received phone calls from local police, telling him to “not get involved with foreign media”. And a woman said her access to the WeChat social media platform had been restricted to private messages, leaving her unable to join group chats or share articles publicly.
Chinese regulators have not confirmed the amount of money that has been frozen, but depositors – who have formed groups on various social media platforms to air their grievances – claim the figure totals tens of billions of yuan.
Authorities have announced investigations into bank fraud and detained several suspects, but customers remain concerned that they may not get their money back.
Since the Sunday protest, the Henan authorities have said they will start repaying some individuals with deposits of up to 50,000 yuan (US$7,450) from Friday, an announcement that has been met with disappointment and calls for a fairer plan.
Wang, who has more than 300,000 yuan deposited, said many people were afraid that those with more than 50,000 yuan might not get their money back. He said many were waiting until Friday to see whether the government kept its word.
“We have three demands: they must admit that this is a legal deposit, they should make a fair payment to all, instead of dividing us in groups, and those who gave us red codes and beat us must be punished by law,” he said.
Others expressed doubt in the Henan government’s attitude and word choice in their announcement, such as the phrase “depending on the situation of investigation and fund recovery”.
“What will they do if they can’t recover these funds?” one asked.
A Beijing depositor surnamed Guo, who said there was nothing to do now except wait, saying it would take a long time to solve the issue, especially for people with millions of yuan invested.
