Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: For the People’s Republic of China, it is Deja wu!
It happened in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square between April and June 1989, when thousands of pro-democracy activists demonstrated against the entrenched Communist regime. They could be removed only by rolling out military tanks and the death of hundreds or thousands, whose numbers never became public.
The military tanks have returned, this time on the streets of Rizhao, in Shaodong Province, to protect the bankrupt banks and prevent the people from withdrawing their hard-earned money. This showdown came after the Henan branch of the Bank of China announced the depositors’ savings in their branch are ‘investment products’ and cannot be withdrawn.
On July 10, over 1,000 depositors gathered outside the Zhengzhou branch of the country’s central bank to launch their largest protest yet. Hundreds of depositors demonstrated in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan, but to no avail.
Since April, police have been clashing with depositors trying to get their money back in China’s Henan province, the media reported on Thursday.
Now, fresh videos surfaced online in which the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA)’s tanks were seen deployed on the streets to drive away protestors.
The incident reminded the people of China’s repressive crackdown on June 4, 1989, when the Communist government rushed in tanks and heavily armed troops to clear Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, where unarmed student protesters had gathered for weeks to demand democracy and greater freedoms. China has since banned any discussion or writing about the ghastly incident.
Last month, on the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, the world recalled the courage of the famous Tank Man who stood firm in front of an army, the image of which led to becoming one symbol of the 20th century.
After a protest turned violent in Henan’s capital, Zhengzhou, the Chinese authorities said they would start releasing money to depositors in batches from July 15. But only a few could receive the payments, the media reported.
With China’s real estate sector’s meltdown, the rural banks, which lent money to realtors connected with corrupt senior politicians, have suddenly become bankrupt as they cannot get their money back.
China is facing a post-pandemic recession, as over 460,000 companies have closed in the first half of 2022. It led to 3.1 million industrial and commercial households being written off, enterprise liquidation soared 23 percent year on year, and 80 million people became unemployed. Homebuyers have suspended loan repayment, and real estate developers are hand-in-glove with Communist leadership.