China's financial crisis: Tanks roll on Henan streets to 'protect' banks amid protests

According to local media reports, Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA’s) tanks are on the streets to protect Banks (Rizhao, Shandong Province) as protests emerged in the province by bank depositors over the release of frozen funds.

Local media outlets reported that the incident came in the light of the Henan branch of the Bank of China declaring that people’s savings in their branch are ‘investment products’ and can’t be withdrawn.

Despite promises that depositors in China’s Henan villages will get their frozen money back in batches with the first due on July 15, only a handful of depositors have received the payments, posing a serious question on whether banks have anything to spare.

Earlier on July 10, more than a thousand depositors gathered outside the Zhengzhou branch of the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, to launch their largest protest yet.

As per the notice by Henan Provincial Financial Supervision Bureau, some bank depositors in Henan villages and towns were supposed to get their deposits back on July 15, reports ANI.

The non-mainstream media believe that only a very few handfuls of depositors have made these payments, while Chinese state media has also not posted anything about the repayment.

During the large-scale protests in Henan province by bank depositors over the release of frozen funds, white-clothed men, who are suspected to be from the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force, suppressed the protests in front of the Zhengzhou People’s Bank of China (PBoC) office, ANI reported quoting local media.

Meanwhile, hundreds of depositors have staged several demonstrations in the city of Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan, but their demands are being ignored by the Chinese authorities, according to reports.