When the white-clothed stability maintenance personnel rushed towards the protesting crowd, Feng Tianyu was still stunned.

She was surrounded by four people, one pulling her hair, one locking her neck from behind, and the other two pulling her arms backwards. She shouted: "I'm pregnant, don't pull me, I can go by myself!"

"I'm very scared, I feel very weak and helpless." Feng Tianyu said in an interview.

Feng Tianyu, 31, deposited 1.11 million yuan in Henan village and town banks, which was all her and her husband's savings, as well as her father's pension. But on April 17, 2022, she found that the deposit could not be withdrawn.

She and hundreds of rights protection depositors of Henan Rural Banks came to Zhengzhou from all over the country to demonstrate peacefully at the gate of the Zhengzhou branch of the People's Bank of China in the early morning of July 10, 2022. More than 10 protesters at the scene told reporters that at about 11:20, hundreds of police and plainclothes stability maintenance personnel suddenly attacked the protesters, beat and kicked them, violently dragged them onto the bus, and took more than 10 temporary prisoners. point. Except for some who were sent to the hospital, most of the protesters were sent back to their places of origin that night, but dozens of people still lost contact.

"We just want to get our money back, but the government beat up the unarmed people, completely subverting my perception. Are we saving money wrong?" Feng Tianyu said.

The day after the conflict, theHenan Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau stated that it would advance customer funds of less than 50,000 yuan, and that more than 50,000 yuan would be advanced successively. This is the only time the official has indirectly acknowledged that the protests took place without making any statement about the official violence. Although Weibo and other social platforms have deleted a large number of videos and photos related to protests and violent conflicts, the number of views on related topics still exceeds 100 million.

This rights protection action originated in mid-April 2022, when four rural banks in Henan, Yuzhou Xinminsheng, Shangcai Huimin, Zhecheng Huanghuai, and Kaifeng New Oriental were suddenly unable to withdraw money and transfer money online, causing a large number of depositors to panic. Depositors, mostly from all over the country, deposit money in village banks through Internet third-party deposit products to earn an annual interest rate of about 1.6% higher than the four state-owned banks. In January last year, the third-party online platform deposit business was suspended , but the bank contacted depositors and said they could continue to deposit through the self-operated WeChat applet. In April of this year, these small programs suddenly became unavailable, and the village banks refused to tell them how to withdraw their deposits.

Signs that Henan Rural Bank was suspected of breaking the law did not appear suddenly. The official WeChat account of the Xiangfu District Public Security Bureau in Kaifeng, Henan Province announced in July 2020 that Zhu Mouwei, a resident, "fabricated and spread false news about New Oriental Village Bank" in the WeChat group. District Mayor Wang Yantao said in an official media video that the rumor has caused depositors to concentrate their deposits, but "please rest assured that all depositors are safe in village banks, and it is necessary to avoid blind withdrawal of deposits resulting in loss of personal interests."

Respondents said that in the past two months, they went to the bank, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, and the city government, and were shunned and kicked; they petitioned, launched three small-scale protests, and contacted domestic and foreign media, but with little effect, even Threatened by the police. On June 14, a number of depositors who were going to Zhengzhou to defend their rights were " accurately assigned red codes ", and the Henan Rural Bank incident aroused heated discussions in the society. Four days later, the Henan Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau and Xuchang Public Security Bureau responded for the first time that the online transaction system of village banks was controlled by Henan New Fortune Group headed by Lu Yi, and the criminal facts had been initially identified.

Officials, however, never characterize depositors' money as "deposits," but refer to them as"off-book business customer principal," etc. Many victims worry that if the lost funds are characterized as the subject of "illegal public deposits", it will be much more difficult to get them back.

"The bank didn't return the money to us, and the government sent people to beat us up. My faith in this country collapsed," Feng Tianyu said. She and many rights defenders told reporters that they had always been patriotic, trusted the government, and believed in the police, but now their "personality has been trampled on the ground."

"Pay back! Pay back!"

At five in the morning on July 10, when Feng Tianyu arrived at the gate of the People's Bank of China, hundreds of depositors had gathered there. In the northern summer, the sun rises early, and in the blue morning light, people sit side by side on the steps, and some people hold up banners, "oppose the violent beating of depositors by the Henan provincial government in conjunction with the underworld" and "without savings, there is no human rights."

This is not the first time Feng Tianyu has come to Zhengzhou to defend his rights. On May 23, she came to Zhengzhou from Harbin for the first time, trying to get back her 1.11 million deposit. She was violently taken to the local nursing home "Qinglong Villa" by stability maintenance personnel in black and white clothes, where she was reprimanded and briefly detained.

Before July 10, depositors had launched three protests, which they called "5.23 Rights Protection", "6.13 Rights Protection" and "6.28" Rights Protection, all of which were officially suppressed. A number of depositors explained to reporters that depositors across the country originally set up many groups, but most of them were banned. Later, some small groups were established according to the region, ranging from 100 to 300 people. However, the organization needs to rely on word of mouth to go to Zhengzhou to defend rights. If someone responds, more people will come together. The "7.10" rights protection originated from the official promise in April to issue a resolution plan within 90 days. However, as the deadline was approaching, the government still did not respond. Many people were anxious and rushed to Zhengzhou to protest.

Protesters said that there were at least three full WeChat groups with a total of 1,500 depositors who came to Zhengzhou this time. The depositors were originally scheduled to protest at the gate of the Henan Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission on July 9, but realized that the plan might be discovered by the Internet police, and temporarily decided to reschedule, and went to the People's Bank of China to protest in the early morning of the next day.

When she came to Zhengzhou to defend her rights this time, Feng Tianyu had been pregnant for two months. "Without this money, how can I do maternity examinations, have children, and raise my daughter?" she said.

The live video shows that from 6 am to 9 am, hundreds of police officers and stability maintenance personnel in white shirts or plainclothes came to the scene one after another and surrounded the protest depositors. Protesters chanted: "Underworld! Underworld!"

Protesters held national flags and sang the national anthem , and some posted a portrait of Mao Zedong on the pillars. In addition to slogans expressing rights protection appeals such as "Bank of Henan, return my deposits" and "Banks break the law, depositors are innocent", there are also slogans such as "Xi Da investigates Henan" and " Li Keqiang investigates Henan " and other slogans that hope that the central government will be held accountable.

Protesters said that there was no large-scale conflict during the confrontation between the two sides, but the encirclement became smaller and smaller, which prevented them from going to the nearby public toilets. Some people used cloth to enclose a square on the lawn as a temporary toilet for everyone. A lady was going to get medicine, but was blocked by stability maintenance personnel in white. Feng Tianyu and other depositors went up to argue. "(I said) You are the people when you take off your police uniform. Don't you have a wife, child, or child? What if you die? You feel your conscience, can you be worthy of anyone?" She added, "They don't dare to look directly at me. Eye".

Feng Tianyu said that many depositors went early and did not eat breakfast. Some protesters brought breakfast and water to everyone. "I feel that everyone is very united, and I am very relieved."

According to the live video and the narratives of several protesters, Qin Hanfeng, director of the Henan Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, and Yang Huajun, deputy director of the Henan Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, came to the scene at around 9:40 to talk with depositors, saying that as long as the deposits are legal, they will be protected. Savers have expressed dissatisfaction with the repeated promise. "Can our deposits still be legal?" many depositors told reporters.

Afterwards, a signal car came to the scene and played the "Assembly, Procession and Demonstration Law" with loudspeakers. In the live video provided by the interviewee, the horn of the signal car has been playing "During the process of assembly, procession, and demonstration, those who destroy public and private property or infringe on the body of others and cause casualties shall be punished in accordance with the Criminal Law...", while the depositors shouted Henan Province on the other side. Governor's name: "Lou Yangsheng, get out!"

During the confrontation, Li Gang, director of letters and visits in Henan, shouted to the protesters that depositors should not gather illegally, and they should declare their demands online. Many protesters were unhappy with this. "The government has put a hat on us, saying that we have too many people, gather people to make troubles, and make troubles. But the government has not solved the problem, which has led to more and more of us expressing our demands." Zhang Xia, a protester at the scene, said, "We are unarmed and have no Destroying any property, not beating anyone, and not affecting anyone to go to work on Sunday, how can they become the 'lawless gangster who gathers a crowd' in the government's mouth?"

According to live video , at about 11:20, loudspeakers announced that the gatherers should leave within 10 minutes. But protesters told reporters that before they could evacuate, the men in white rushed over.

Violent clearing

The clearing happened so quickly that depositors couldn't get out of the police circle and were beaten and kicked by stability guards.

Zhang Xia, a protester at the scene, said that she was lifted up by the man in white with all four hands and four feet. A man kicked her hard in the stomach, and another person who lifted her said, "You have to defend your rights legally!" She shouted hoarsely. , "Is it legal for you to kick me?"

Another protester at the scene, Wang Xiaoping, held onto the handrail and refused to get on the bus. She said that when a man in black saw her struggling, he hit her on the chin with an elbow, and his mouth was immediately filled with blood. She felt heartbroken and cried while sitting in the aisle of the bus. For the next eight hours, she didn't drink a sip of water or eat a sip of food.

Others were injured in the eyes. Mr. Yu, who also came from Harbin, said that when he was lifted up, someone kicked him in the eye, and his left eye could not be seen clearly. The hospital CT diagnosis report he showed to reporters showed that "the optic nerve in the left eye is considered to be injured, the back of the left eyeball is considered to be injured, and the soft tissue around the left eyelid and maxillofacial is contused." He wanted to do an injury appraisal, but he called 110 many times, but the police never responded.

Several protesters said that there were police officers in uniform standing in the bus, and many people tore the police sirens, drew the curtains, and beat depositors while scolding. "If you are a man, just as you are about to speak, your big mouth will come over." Feng Tianyu said.

The protesters were taken to Jinsha Primary School, Henan Technician College, Qinglong Villa and other places for temporary detention, and most of them were sent back to their places of origin that night. Seriously injured protesters were taken to hospital after pleading with police.

Feng Tianyu said that after she was escorted into the car, her stomach hurt and she was worried that there was a problem with the fetus. She asked to call 120. The police refused and told her, "If the miscarriage occurs, the Communist Party will be responsible." After her repeated requests, she was finally sent to the hospital. Zhengzhou First Hospital. She said that before she was taken to the hospital, an official promised that the government would pay for the medical expenses, but the hospital said it did not get the money and threw her in the hospital lobby.

"I believe in the country's license and deposit insurance system, I didn't expect this to be deceiving"

Depositors don't understand how their own money in the bank becomes illicit funds.

Since April 18, when depositors found that the four Henan rural banks were unable to withdraw and transfer money online, they thought that the banks were insolvent, and a "storm" occurred. It was not until the Henan Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau and Xuchang Public Security Bureau issued the first announcement two months later that depositors knew that "Lu Yi" and "Henan New Wealth Group" were using " related shareholding, cross-holding, capital increase and share expansion, and manipulation of banks ". Executives, etc. , actually control village and town banks, use third-party Internet financial platforms and self-operated platforms to solicit deposits and sell financial products, and illegally transfer funds by means of fictitious loans.”

According to China Business News, the deposit products of village banks are marked as “deposit items” when they are promoted on third-party internet platforms such as “Du Xiaoman”. When internet deposits were stopped and banks contacted depositors to continue deposits, it was also claimed to be of the nature of "deposits".

To the anger of depositors, they put money in the bank in the form of deposits, and the money was then illegally manipulated and transferred without their knowledge and never involved, but the government did not recognize it as their deposit, and also Not compensated under the deposit insurance system. After the large-scale protests and conflicts, the government issued a notice to characterize the funds as "off-bookbusiness customer principal ", and many depositors expressed dissatisfaction, "What does the bank's on-book and off-book business have to do with us?"

"I made deposits at the time, and I just looked at two points. First, it was a bank, and second, it had 500,000 deposit insurance. If it weren't for these two points, I would not have been able to deposit in this village bank. This is a national credit issue, and I believe that the country I didn’t expect this to be deceptive.” Sun Can, a depositor who participated in the protest, said in an interview.

She invested in P2P earlier, and after P2P was regulated and retired in 2020, she looked for a new way to manage money. She saw deposits and wealth management advertisements on the 360 portal website and Jingdong APP, and believed that the bank deposit risk was low, with 500,000 deposit insurance, and the interest rate was about 1.6% higher than that of the four major state-owned banks. Yuan saved in.

Huang Lei, a lawyer specializing in economic crime cases from Zhejiang Jinglin Law Firm, said in an interview with the media that depositors' deposits in village banks are legal. He believes that when depositors put money into a legal bank account, the risk is transferred, and it is the bank's responsibility to link up with external parties to illegally transfer funds; income, but the principal of the deposit is still protected by law.

He said that, as a neutral legal person, he believes that this is a legal deposit, but the other party is eager to characterize it as illegal or other funds and does not want to take responsibility. He added that officials have repeatedly said that depositors will not be paid if they act illegally, but he does not think these threats are legally valid.

He believes that if the state does not come forward, it will be difficult for depositors to eventually get all their deposits back. After the promulgation of the "Regulations on Deposit Insurance" in 2015, the state has given up the obligation to cover the bottom line, but has adopted the statutory deposit insurance system, with a limit of 500,000 per household to cover the bottom line. If these village banks do not pay deposit insurance premiums and do not have much assets themselves, there is still a great risk that depositors will not be able to get all their deposits back.

Among the depositors interviewed by the reporter, some have saved 400,000 to 500,000 yuan, and some have saved hundreds of millions. The part exceeding 500,000 does not belong to the statutory deposit insurance coverage. What makes depositors even more anxious is that the government does not currently pay in accordance with deposit insurance, but "advances" through the seized funds of New Wealth Group , and is currently limited to depositors with a deposit of less than 50,000, which only accounts for a large proportion of victims. less part.

"If you have a deposit of more than 50,000 yuan, you will not be given a cent (compensation), how do you want us to live? The current economic environment is not good, and everyone can't make money." Sun Can.

Deposits that cannot be withdrawn are breadwinners for many savers. Sun Can's daughter was in elementary school, when her expenses were high, her mother had breast cancer and heart disease and needed to save money for surgery and chemotherapy; Zhang Xia could only rely on borrowing to pay off her mortgage and car loan, which made her life difficult." It fell to the bottom." Feng Tianyu was preparing to give birth to a second child, and his father also pointed to the money for retirement.

On the evening of July 10, Feng Tianyu returned to the hotel from the hospital, not knowing what to do next. She wanted to stay in Zhengzhou to get the money back, but the experience of being beaten "destroyed her three views".

"I joined the party in college, but I never thought that there are people (in white) who wear party emblems and can fight the old, the weak, the sick, the disabled, and pregnant. I don't know who to go to to reason with the police. They are not for the people. Service? They are beating me." Feng Tianyu said.

"I'm about to become a mother of two children, and I don't know how to build faith in them, to support the party, and to be patriotic." She finished, crying.

Note: The rights protection depositors at the protest site all provided the reporter with their real names, but because of the security threat, the names of the respondents are presented in homophones.

At the same time, you are welcome to forward this article in the wall through your method, and let us jointly start a small experiment of "refusing to forget".