China: PLA Tanks deployed on streets to prevent people from withdrawing money in Henan

Serving as a sombre reminder of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, armoured tanks were seen deployed on the streets of China amid widespread protests by people who took to the streets calling for the release of their money that had been frozen by banks. In a fresh video that went viral on the internet recently, the Chinese People's Liberation Army's (PLA) tanks on Wednesday rolled through the streets in a bid to frighten Henan bank protestors.

It is pertinent to mention here that conflicts between Chinese police and depositors have been happening in the country's Henan province for the past several weeks, with the latter claiming they have been unable to withdraw their savings from banks since April of this year, according to the local media reports. The tanks were reportedly deployed on the streets to protect the banks and keep the protestors from attacking them. The incident follows a statement made by the Bank of China's Henan office that deposits made by customers are "investment items" therefore, they cannot be withdrawn.

As per local media reports, authorities have said that they will begin releasing deposits of people whose funds have been blocked by a number of rural banks following protests in Henan's capital, Zhengzhou. However, according to non-mainstream media in China, only a few depositors have received payouts, which raises the critical question of whether banks have any extra cash.

These reports further noted that the white-clothed men, who are reportedly members of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force, dispersed protestors in front of the Zhengzhou division of the People's Bank of China (PBoC) during the widespread protests in Henan province demanding the release of frozen funds.

A grim reminder of Tiananmen Square incident

The tanks on China's streets raise the crucial question of whether history is destined to repeat itself as this incident serves as a grim reminder of the Tiananmen Square massacre, which occurred on June 4, 1989, when Chinese leaders brought in tanks and highly armed forces to clear Beijing's Tiananmen Square, where student demonstrators had congregated for weeks to call for democracy and greater freedoms. The crackdown is shunned in the classroom and closely regulated in the media and online. It is pertinent to mention that the Tiananmen Square massacre resulted in the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of unarmed demonstrators.

Challenging year for China

Meanwhile, Zheng Yuhuang, a professor at Beijing's Tsinghua University, claimed in a video that 2022 will be a challenging year for China. According to Zheng, 4,60,000 businesses closed down in China in the first half of the year, 3.1 million industrial and commercial households were written off and enterprise liquidation increased by 23 per cent year on year, ANI reported. Adding further he said, 10.76 million college graduates have entered the workforce under heavy employment pressure and 80 million young people are still unemployed.

(Input with ANI)