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Zhengzhou, Henan protests: China crushes mass demonstration by bank depositors demanding their life savings back
Anguished depositors have staged several demonstrations in the city of Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan, over the past two months, but their demands have invariably fallen on deaf ears.
On Sunday, more than 1,000 depositors from across China gathered outside the Zhengzhou branch of the country’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, to launch their largest protest yet, more than half a dozen protesters told CNN.
The demonstration is among the largest China has seen since the pandemic, with domestic travel limited by various Covid restrictions on movement. Last month, Zhengzhou authorities even resorted to tampering with the country’s digital Covid health-code system to restrict the movements of depositors and thwart their planned protest, sparking a nationwide outcry.
This time, most protesters arrived outside the bank before dawn — some as early as 4 a.m. — to avoid being intercepted by authorities. The crowd, which includes the elderly and children, occupied a flight of imposing stairs outside the bank, chanting slogans and holding up banners.
“Henan banks, return my savings!” they shouted in unison, many waving Chinese flags, in videos shared with CNN by two protesters.
Using national flags to display patriotism is a common strategy for protesters in China, where dissent is strictly suppressed. The tactic is meant to show that their grievances are only against local governments, and that they support and rely on the central government to seek redress.
“Against the corruption and violence of the Henan government,” a banner written in English read.
A large portrait of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong was pasted on a pillar at the entrance of the bank.
Across the street, hundreds of police and security personnel — some in uniforms and others in plain clothes — assembled and surrounded the site, as protesters shouted “gangsters” at them.
Violent crackdown
The face-off lasted for several hours until after 11 a.m., when rows of security officers suddenly charged up the stairs and clashed with protesters, who threw bottles and other small objects at them.
The scene quickly descended into chaos, as security officers dragged protesters down the stairs and beat those who resisted, including women and the elderly, according to witnesses and social media videos.
One woman from eastern Shandong province told CNN she was pushed to the ground by two security guards, who twisted and injured her arm. A 27-year-old man from the southern city of Shenzhen, surnamed Sun, said he was kicked by seven or eight guards on the ground before being carried away. A 45-year-old man from the central city of Wuhan said his shirt was completely torn at the back during the scuffle.
Many said they were shocked by the sudden burst of violence by the security forces.
“I did not expect them to be so violent and shameless this time. There was no communication, no warning before they brutally dispersed us,” said one depositor from a metropolis outside Henan who had protested in Zhengzhou previously, and who requested CNN conceal his name due to security concerns.
“Why would government employees beat us up? We’re only ordinary people asking for our deposits back, we did nothing wrong,” the Shandong woman said.
The protesters were hurled onto dozens of buses and sent to makeshift detention sites across the city — from hotels and schools to factories, according to people taken there. Some injured were escorted to hospitals; many were released from detention by the late afternoon, the people said.
CNN has reached out to the Henan provincial government for comment.
The Zhengzhou Business District Police Station — which has jurisdiction over the protest site — hung up on CNN’s call requesting comment.
Late on Sunday night, the Henan banking regulator issued a terse statement, saying “relevant departments” were speeding up efforts to verify information on customer funds at the four rural banks.
“(Authorities) are coming up with a plan to deal with the issue, which will be announced in the near future,” the statement said.
Shattered lives
The protest comes at a politically sensitive time for the ruling Communist Party, just months before its leader Xi Jinping is expected to seek an unprecedented third term at a key meeting this fall.
Large-scale demonstrations over lost savings and ruined livelihoods could be perceived as a political embarrassment for Xi, who has promoted a nationalistic vision of leading the country to “great rejuvenation.”
Henan authorities are under tremendous pressure to stop the protests. But depositors remain undeterred. As the issue drags on, many have become ever more desperate to recover their savings.
Huang, the depositor from Wuhan, lost his job in the medical cosmetology industry this year, as businesses struggled in the pandemic. Yet he is unable to withdraw any of his life savings — of over 500,000 yuan ($75,000) — from a rural bank in Henan.
“Being unemployed, all I can live on is my past savings. But I can’t even do that now — how am I supposed to (support my family)?” said Huang, whose son is in high school.
Sun, from Shenzhen, is struggling to keep his machine factory from bankruptcy after losing his deposit of 4 million yuan ($597,000) to a Henan bank. He can’t even pay his more than 40 employees without the funds.
Sun said he was covered in bruises and had a swollen lower back after being repeatedly stomped by security guards at the protest.
“The incident completely overturned my perception of the government. I’ve lived all my life placing so much faith in the government. After today, I’ll never trust it again,” he said.
Zhengzhou, Henan protests: China crushes mass demonstration by bank depositors demanding their life savings back
Anguished depositors have staged several demonstrations in the city of Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan, over the past two months, but their demands have invariably fallen on deaf ears.
On Sunday, more than 1,000 depositors from across China gathered outside the Zhengzhou branch of the country’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, to launch their largest protest yet, more than half a dozen protesters told CNN.
The demonstration is among the largest China has seen since the pandemic, with domestic travel limited by various Covid restrictions on movement. Last month, Zhengzhou authorities even resorted to tampering with the country’s digital Covid health-code system to restrict the movements of depositors and thwart their planned protest, sparking a nationwide outcry.
This time, most protesters arrived outside the bank before dawn — some as early as 4 a.m. — to avoid being intercepted by authorities. The crowd, which includes the elderly and children, occupied a flight of imposing stairs outside the bank, chanting slogans and holding up banners.
“Henan banks, return my savings!” they shouted in unison, many waving Chinese flags, in videos shared with CNN by two protesters.
Using national flags to display patriotism is a common strategy for protesters in China, where dissent is strictly suppressed. The tactic is meant to show that their grievances are only against local governments, and that they support and rely on the central government to seek redress.
“Against the corruption and violence of the Henan government,” a banner written in English read.
A large portrait of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong was pasted on a pillar at the entrance of the bank.
Across the street, hundreds of police and security personnel — some in uniforms and others in plain clothes — assembled and surrounded the site, as protesters shouted “gangsters” at them.
Violent crackdown
The face-off lasted for several hours until after 11 a.m., when rows of security officers suddenly charged up the stairs and clashed with protesters, who threw bottles and other small objects at them.
The scene quickly descended into chaos, as security officers dragged protesters down the stairs and beat those who resisted, including women and the elderly, according to witnesses and social media videos.
One woman from eastern Shandong province told CNN she was pushed to the ground by two security guards, who twisted and injured her arm. A 27-year-old man from the southern city of Shenzhen, surnamed Sun, said he was kicked by seven or eight guards on the ground before being carried away. A 45-year-old man from the central city of Wuhan said his shirt was completely torn at the back during the scuffle.
Many said they were shocked by the sudden burst of violence by the security forces.
“I did not expect them to be so violent and shameless this time. There was no communication, no warning before they brutally dispersed us,” said one depositor from a metropolis outside Henan who had protested in Zhengzhou previously, and who requested CNN conceal his name due to security concerns.
“Why would government employees beat us up? We’re only ordinary people asking for our deposits back, we did nothing wrong,” the Shandong woman said.
The protesters were hurled onto dozens of buses and sent to makeshift detention sites across the city — from hotels and schools to factories, according to people taken there. Some injured were escorted to hospitals; many were released from detention by the late afternoon, the people said.
CNN has reached out to the Henan provincial government for comment.
The Zhengzhou Business District Police Station — which has jurisdiction over the protest site — hung up on CNN’s call requesting comment.
Late on Sunday night, the Henan banking regulator issued a terse statement, saying “relevant departments” were speeding up efforts to verify information on customer funds at the four rural banks.
“(Authorities) are coming up with a plan to deal with the issue, which will be announced in the near future,” the statement said.
Shattered lives
The protest comes at a politically sensitive time for the ruling Communist Party, just months before its leader Xi Jinping is expected to seek an unprecedented third term at a key meeting this fall.
Large-scale demonstrations over lost savings and ruined livelihoods could be perceived as a political embarrassment for Xi, who has promoted a nationalistic vision of leading the country to “great rejuvenation.”
Henan authorities are under tremendous pressure to stop the protests. But depositors remain undeterred. As the issue drags on, many have become ever more desperate to recover their savings.
Huang, the depositor from Wuhan, lost his job in the medical cosmetology industry this year, as businesses struggled in the pandemic. Yet he is unable to withdraw any of his life savings — of over 500,000 yuan ($75,000) — from a rural bank in Henan.
“Being unemployed, all I can live on is my past savings. But I can’t even do that now — how am I supposed to (support my family)?” said Huang, whose son is in high school.
Sun, from Shenzhen, is struggling to keep his machine factory from bankruptcy after losing his deposit of 4 million yuan ($597,000) to a Henan bank. He can’t even pay his more than 40 employees without the funds.
Sun said he was covered in bruises and had a swollen lower back after being repeatedly stomped by security guards at the protest.
“The incident completely overturned my perception of the government. I’ve lived all my life placing so much faith in the government. After today, I’ll never trust it again,” he said.
Parachute demonstration at Nationals game triggers false alarm evacuation at US Capitol
The exhibition was apparently part of a military appreciation night event hosted by MLB’s Washington Nationals. Shortly after 6:25 p.m. ET, after dropping streamers to gauge the wind, a Golden Knights pilot gave an air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport their plan to drop the parachutists, including the specific direction they were planning to fly.
US Capitol Police, apparently, had not been notified.
“Evacuate Now: Aircraft Intrusion” read the email subject line of a Capitol Police alert issued shortly after 6:30 p.m.
“The USCP is tracking an aircraft that poses a probable threat to the Capitol Complex,” the email began, listing instructions for people at various locations at the complex.
Capitol Police moved swiftly to evacuate the campus, sounding a piercing alarm throughout the Capitol and its surrounding office buildings. Officers were going door to door in the building to make sure those inside were leaving as quickly as possible.
Outside, the sounds of sirens rang in the air as Capitol Police shooed evacuating staffers and curious tourists out of the area. Everyone was forced out past the office buildings on both sides of the Capitol Square.
In the skies above, the plane in question could be seen making its slow circle around Washington as those anxiously waiting for answers pointed to the parachutists dropping into Nationals Park several blocks down South Capitol Street.
About 20 minutes later, the Capitol Police said there was no threat.
“The Capitol was evacuated out of an abundance of caution this evening. There is no threat at the Capitol,” the department tweeted.
Capitol Police confirmed later that all congressional buildings had reopened and “our federal, state and local partners are still working to get more information.”
In a statement late Wednesday night, the Federal Aviation Administration promised a “thorough and expeditious review” of the incident.
“The FAA takes its role in protecting the national airspace seriously and will conduct a thorough and expeditious review of the events this evening and share updates,” the FAA said. “We know our actions affect others, especially in our nation’s capital region, and we must communicate early and often with our law enforcement partners.”
Kelli LeGaspi, a spokeswoman for US Army Recruiting Command, said the Army was also investigating.
CNN has reached out to Capitol Police and the Nationals for comment.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed the FAA.
“The Federal Aviation Administration’s apparent failure to notify Capitol Police of the pre-planned flyover Nationals Stadium is outrageous and inexcusable,” the California Democrat said in a statement. “The unnecessary panic caused by this apparent negligence was particularly harmful for Members, staff and institutional workers still grappling with the trauma of the attack on their workplace on January 6th.”
Air traffic controllers at Reagan, however, were aware of the Golden Knights flight, according to a recording from liveatc.net.
At 6:21 p.m, a controller at the airport’s tower advised a Southwest airlines flight that “two miles Northeast of National’s tower, there’s the Golden Knights plane,” and said they were in the vicinity of the stadium.
The Southwest pilot replied that they had the aircraft in sight.
Such security alerts at the Capitol happen occasionally. The Capitol was briefly cleared and the White House was temporarily locked down when a single-engine plane wandered into restricted airspace in April 2009.
It was also evacuated in January 2011 when a commercial airliner accidentally entered restricted airspace.
This story has been updated with additional reaction.
CNN’s Brian Rokus and Oren Liebermann contributed to this report.
Hands On: The Matrix Awakens Is an Unreal Demonstration of PS5’s Power
There are some who would argue that the PlayStation 5 has yet to have its true next-gen moment. Exclusives like Demon’s Souls and even Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart look phenomenal, of course, but are they really a significant step-up from the PS4? Sony, in many ways, made a rod for its own back with its generational transition: the latter days of its last-gen console played host to titles like The Last of Us 2 and Ghost of Tsushima, two of the best-looking games ever created. How much better can it possibly get?
The Matrix Awakens, a free PS5 tech demo designed to showcase the power of the Unreal Engine 5 technology demonstrates that we’re not at the point of diminishing returns just yet. This is a staggering real-time illustration of what Sony’s new console can do, and collectively our jaw’s on the floor. It starts out with a recreated scene from The Matrix, before Keanu Reeves introduces the demo as himself. The fidelity is unparalleled – if not for a few awkward animation transitions you’d be forgiven for thinking this is FMV, but it’s not.
You then end up in a car chase where you have limited input. You can fire a weapon at car tires and things explode all around you. The framerate isn’t perfect – it’s targeting 30 frames-per-second and routinely dips – but it looks lightyears ahead of anything released on a console before. It transitions in and out of cut-scenes, culminating in one final shootout where you bring down a helicopter with a hefty machine gun. The camera zooms in and out, showing the details of its facial animations and the sheer scale of its city.
Then it concludes with a show-reel of the engine’s best features: the sheer number of AI vehicles on screen at once; the lighting system which enables dynamic time of day; Epic Games’ ridiculous Nanite technology which delivers an unparalleled level of geometric detail. If this was the end of the demo we’d be salivating for sure, but then you’re given the freedom to explore the urban sandbox either on foot or as a drone, and you can manipulate the sun’s position to change the time of day.
You can also get into any of the cars and drive around, and it’s hard not to imagine what a modern Grand Theft Auto game could look like with this kind of technology. Driving at high-speed, there’s no real discernible pop-in despite the sheer complexity of the scenes on display. Civilians go about their business, while computer-controlled cars drive organically within the city laid out in front of them. Every person is generated by Epic’s futuristic MetaHuman technology, by the way.
According to official data from the Fortnite maker, there are some 7,000 buildings in this map, as well as a surface area of just under 16km2. This isn’t a game, of course, it’s not intended to be – it’s a demonstration of what’s to come. And if you’re yet to be wowed by a game’s presentation on the PS5, then we’ll be flabbergasted if this doesn’t leave you starry-eyed. The future is bright, folks.
Have you tried The Matrix Awakens tech demo on your PS5 yet? Were you as impressed as we are? Pick your tongue up in the comments section below.
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London protesters arrested at demonstration over policing powers and vigil of Sarah Everard
Protests continued Monday in the United Kingdom over gender-based violence and policing in the wake of the suspected Sarah Everard killing.
Arrests were made as hundreds of people in London protested outside police headquarters, parliament and Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office, according to reports.
Many gathered to oppose the passage of a new policing bill just days after officers were criticized for using excessive force at a vigil for Everard, where critics say images showed police aggressively “manhandling” and handcuffing mourners.
METROPOLITAN POLICE CHIEF REFUSES TO RESIGN AFTER VIOLENT CLASHES AT SARAH EVERARD VIGIL
Police officers keep watch as activists protesting violence against women and new proposed police powers demonstrate in London, United Kingdom on March 15, 2021. (Photo by David Cliff/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Opponents said the bill would impose stiff sentences for rule-breakers and give police too much power to restrict non-violent protests, according to the Guardian.
“We’re here for two reasons. One is to stand against male violence, whether that’s the hand of the state, partners, or institutions. We are here to honor the lives of women who have been murdered by men … And we are here to resist,” said Labour MP Nadia Whittome.
Activists protesting violence against women and new proposed police powers demonstrate in London, United Kingdom on March 15, 2021. (Photo by David Cliff/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Protesters on Monday held signs that read, “Educate your sons” and “End violence against women.” They blocked Westminster Bridge twice and stood opposite a line of police outside New Scotland Yard, according to the news website. Chants heard at the demonstration included, “sisters united will never be defeated,” “all cops are bastards” and “who protects us from you?”
Police ordered protesters to go home and the Guardian said it witnessed several people being arrested for breaching coronavirus rules. The protest on Monday took place for several hours and didn’t include the same police tactics used during Saturday’s vigil, reports said.
Political focus has shifted onto London’s Metropolitan Police in recent days after the vigil, which police said breached COVID-19 lockdown rules, according to Reuters.
LONDON POLICE CRITICIZED FOR CLASHES WITH SARAH EVERARD MOURNERS; KATE MIDDLETON VISITED HOURS EARLIER
Cressida Dick, the head of the Metropolitan Police, told Sky News that she would not leave her post and that the circumstances surrounding Everard’s death have inspired her to carry on.
Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive, set out on the 50-minute walk home from a friend’s house in south London at about 9 p.m. on March 3. She never arrived. On Friday, police confirmed that a body found hidden in woodland 50 miles southeast of the city is hers.
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London police arrested a member of the force’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command on Tuesday as a suspect in the case. On Friday, police charged the officer, Constable Wayne Couzens, with kidnapping and murder. Couzens, 48, is due to appear in court Tuesday.
The murder has sparked international attention and brought awareness to violence against women and the dangers they sometimes face in everyday activities like walking down a street at night.