Chinese cops 'beat' protesters outraged at having bank accounts frozen

Chinese police "beat" citizens who gathered to protest against having their bank accounts frozen due to COVID-19 policies on Sunday, according to protesters.

Protests centered on three banks serving primarily rural communities that have frozen millions of dollars in accounts since April. Roughly 1,000 protesters gathered to call for the release of their funds outside the Zhengzhou branch of the Chinese Central Bank, but they say they were met with violence.

"I feel so aggrieved I can't even explain it to you," one protester, going only by the name Zhang, told Reuters.

"They did not say they would beat us if we refused to leave. They just used the loudspeaker to say that we were breaking the law by petitioning. That's ridiculous. It's the banks that are breaking the law," the demonstrator added.

In this photo released by Yang on Sunday, July 10, 2022, people hold banners and chant slogans during a protest at the entrance to a branch of China's central bank in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan Province. A large crowd of angry Chinese bank depositors faced off with police Sunday, some reportedly injured as they were roughly taken away, in a case that has drawn attention because of earlier attempts to use a COVID-19 tracking app to prevent them from mobilising. (AP Photo/Yang) (AP)

Even with more than a thousand protesters, police outnumbered the demonstrators roughly three to one, according to Zhang.