[Epoch Times, May 24, 2022](The Epoch Times reporters Gu Xiaohua and Li Xin’an interviewed and reported) On Monday (May 23), the victimized depositors of Henan Rural Banks gathered in the Henan provincial government to defend their rights and demanded free withdrawals because they were unable to withdraw money. Plainclothes beatings, forced to write a letter of guarantee, and forced repatriation. Netizens said that the CCP has no way to govern the country and its suppression is skillful.
The depositor victim, Ms. He (pseudonym), told reporters a few days ago that hundreds of thousands of depositors defending their rights have gathered at the provincial government of Zhengzhou City, Henan Province and the China Banking Regulatory Commission these two days. “They have violated depositors’ rights to voluntarily deposit and withdraw money for more than 30 days.”
On Monday (May 23), they launched a larger campaign. “Henan has robbed money!” “We want to withdraw money!” The scene was full of cries, and some knelt down to petition. Depositors put up slogans “Henan Bank pays back my deposit” and “pay back my hard-earned money”, and shouted the slogan “Free withdrawal!”
The Henan authorities dispatched a large number of special police officers to block the roads and dispatched a large number of plainclothes personnel. At the gate of the Henan Provincial Government, Chuyou pointed out that there were plainclothes lined up like a human wall. During the process, only one low-ranking official talked to the depositors, claiming to be in charge of maintaining the stability of the provincial government, and asking everyone to go to the designated pick-up location to solve the problem. Netizens revealed the identity of the official. The official position is assistant to the director of the Zhengdong New District Management Committee, responsible for the stability of public security and government petitions.
The live video showed that a group of people in black rushed into the crowd and locked the throats of the people defending their rights. The police on the scene turned a blind eye. Subsequently, the depositors were forcibly caught in the car, and several buses took the depositors to Qinglong Villa on the outskirts of Zhengzhou. Some officials came forward to talk, but did not give a substantive answer. After that, everyone was restricted from personal freedom.
The depositor Mr. Wang (pseudonym) described the situation that day to reporters. At eight or nine in the morning, the depositors gathered near the Henan Provincial Banking Regulatory Bureau. When seven or eight hundred people gathered, the police asked them to go to a designated yard and not in the yard. When they gathered at the scene, they walked to the Henan Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government (about 7 kilometers away), showing the illegal behavior of the bank to the surrounding people along the way.
“The police car followed the whole process. At 11 or 2 noon, we arrived near the Henan Provincial Government. The police cleared all the streets, put a martial law on the ground, and blocked us in the middle circle. They organized all plainclothes, uniform half sleeves, to these depositors. Use force to suppress, escort everyone to the car, and centralize control.”
According to the news from the scene, the police forcibly deleted the photos, registered the ID card, and forced to sign the guarantee. If you don’t sign, don’t leave, then send it to the station to buy a ticket and forcibly repatriate. Some savers lost contact with their families for a while. “Forced (to write a letter of guarantee), (they are) underworld, and they are not given food.”
Mr. Wang said, “About two or three hundred people were arrested. They characterized petitioning as illegal. They asked everyone to ensure that they would not gather again at the scene. They had to evacuate, and then notified their origin to receive them. After returning to the hotel in the evening, we all received calls from the police station of origin. If you don’t return the phone, you will be escorted back to your place of origin.”
“Some of them have been forcibly repatriated just now. Those who go by car must see people entering the station and get on the bus, and those who are driving must take the expressway. The exit here is for delivery, and the exit there must receive people.”
Another friend sent a message that the police took the list of guests from outside the hotel and started arresting people. On May 24, the Moshang Hotel where depositors stayed was besieged by “men in black”, and they were watched when they went out. Two men in black looked at one person, preventing depositors from petitioning normally.
Chuyou said, “It’s so desperate! Henan uses special police and plainclothes force to treat innocent people! It’s like a gangland.” “The police don’t go to the bank to catch those who run away with money, but to catch the unarmed people who legally defend their rights. Right and wrong, what credibility does the government have?” “The bank’s credit has collapsed, and the Henan government’s credit has collapsed.” “Standing for deposits, kneeling to ask for money.” “Return my rivers and mountains, and return my deposits!”
But Chuyou soon discovered that in addition to arresting people offline to maintain stability, the police also began to “delete posts on a large scale” online.
There has been no official announcement on the bank’s shareholders’ absorption of funds
Four rural banks including Yuzhou Xinminsheng Rural Bank in Henan have shut down online businesses such as online banking and mobile banking from April 18, triggering the continued protection of their rights by depositors.
Junzheng Zhida Technology Co., Ltd., which provides technical operation and maintenance for banks, revealed in a letter to their superiors that the above-mentioned four village banks have tens of billions of Internet deposits on major Internet platforms, involving nearly one million customers.
On May 18, the head of the relevant department of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission stated through CCTV Finance that Henan New Wealth Group (bank shareholder) absorbed public funds through internal and external collusion, the use of third-party platforms and fund brokers, etc., suspected of violating the law and crime, and a case has been opened for investigation.
Mr. Wang told reporters that so far, no one, no department or institution has come out to give depositors a clear answer. Regarding the people’s rights protection this time, the official government is all a measure to maintain stability. It does not act and does not take responsibility. Everyone is very disappointed.
“No one would have thought that the bank’s deposits would not be able to be withdrawn. Some came here with children, and this incident would be a disaster for the family. There is no life at home, and now there is an epidemic, and there is no other income. In a state of complete predicament, a hopeless state,” he said.
After the incident, Yuzhou Xinminsheng Rural Bank issued multiple announcements to temporarily suspend business in cooperation with epidemic prevention and control, and closed again on May 23, saying that it would resume business in an orderly manner according to the unsealing time of the Municipal Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters.
On May 5, the Henan Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau issued an announcement to suspend the reception of visitors and the 12378 hotline in Henan on the grounds of epidemic prevention and control and minimizing the flow of people and gatherings. The recovery time will be notified separately depending on the epidemic situation and prevention and control requirements.
Chuyou said, “Now the epidemic is a shield for everything, just unplug the phone line and the network line directly, and witness the shameless moment when the phone line spreads the epidemic!”
There are also depositors who report that if they receive a call from the stability maintenance personnel, if they do not return to their origin, the health code will change from a green code to a red code.
Savers beg the media to speak out
Ms. He also lost contact with reporters on the 23rd. Because the village bank can draw the principal and interest on an annual or monthly basis, and because the state has a deposit insurance of 500,000 yuan, she can safely deposit her savings in the bank. The bank’s partners are all leading financial platforms, such as 360, Baidu, JD.com and so on.
According to reports, the frozen products include bank deposit products purchased on third-party platforms before the new regulations, as well as bank deposit products purchased in the bank’s official WeChat applet.
In January 2021, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the People’s Bank of China issued new financial supervision regulations, prohibiting banks from collecting deposits in different places through the Internet.
Ms. He said, “Then the bank sent us a text message and directed them to purchase on their official self-operated platform (WeChat official account, mini program). As a depositor, we think this is a self-operated platform, so we can safely deposit the money. Yes. The official WeChat mini-program is stored online, which has been certified by the bank and Tencent.”
“This is all our own hard-earned money, a legitimate source. We trust the state to deposit these small banks, because we feel that there is state supervision. After the bank has a problem, all departments are shirk their responsibilities and want the depositors to take the blame. It’s so hard! I hope the media will give us a voice,” she said.
Mr. Wang said that the government has used various means to maintain stability, and there is no way for ordinary people to complain, and there is nowhere to see a ray of light.Never experienced anything like this,Visually and psychologically, the impact is huge.
“These depositors even begged the government, you can’t give money, even if you give a formal statement, you can even pay in installments and in batches, and you can pay a small amount. Relying on the law? We are all good people, with our own savings, why do we do this?” he said.
Responsible editor: Lin Congwen#