Tempers are fraying in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou as citizens storm the People's Bank of China following weeks of frozen assets and access denied to bank accounts..Video of the protest, currently at three million views, was shared to Twitter, “Citizens in Zhengzhou try to storm a bank after assets got frozen. Soon in theaters in Europe,” the post reads..“China is gonna have a major revolution on its hands at some point. Communism, no matter what flavour, is just not stable,” @Robben4days responded..The banks froze deposits worth billions of dollars back in April. At the time, bank authorities cited systems maintenance as the reason for its asset-freeze..The banks have not issued any communication on the matter since, depositors said, and accounts are still inaccessible..The Chinese media is reporting the frozen deposits across the various local banks are worth up to $2.2 billion and authorities are investigating the three banks central to the protest..Angry citizens stormed the bank despite Chinese authorities' earlier attempts to use a COVID-19 tracking app to bar them from leaving homes..Bank depositors engaged in a confrontation with China's state police force on Sunday. Protesters were dragged away after violent struggles with officers..A protester's video footage captured plainclothes security teams charging the crowd as they were hit with water bottles and other projectiles..Approximately 1,000 people gathered outside the central bank on Sunday to demand a response from authorities. Protesters waved banners and chanted slogans on the building's steps leading to the entrance of a branch of the nation’s central bank, the People's bank of China..Thousands of Chinese opened accounts at six rural banks in Henan and the neighbouring province of Anhui that provided higher interest rates on accounts..Chinese media rumours circulated that the CEO of the bank's parent firm was missing and wanted for financial crimes — accounts holders subsequently discovered they were blocked from accessing their account balances..Videos captured in the early morning darkness show police cars with flashing lights. By 8 a.m., police barricaded the street and begun amassing on the opposing side, according to Fox News..One demonstrator, 40-year-old Zhang, said, "I feel so resentful that I can't even convey it to you." Zhang claimed he had hoped to recover $25,000 that had been deposited with one of the banks, the Zhecheng Huanghuai Community Bank, or around 170,000 yuan..“We came today and wanted to get our savings back, because I have elderly people and children at home, and the inability to withdraw savings has seriously affected my life,” said a woman from Shandong province, who only gave her last name, Zhang, fearing retribution by Chinese authorities..Zhang and another protester, a man from Beijing surnamed Yang, told the AP the protesters had heard from the officials before and no longer believe the official narrative..The protest was reportedly the fourth in a series of protests carried out by bank users.
