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US bank victims were bailed out in 3 days. In China, many have been waiting a year. Victims of China’s rural banking scandal in Henan tell me thousands haven’t received a penny back of their life savings. Instead they’re being tracked, harassed or worse.
A couple in Shanghai said right before China’s annual political meeting, they were kidnapped and detained for 11 days to prevent them from protesting to demand their money back. Bank victims tell me the government & banks have ignored their relentless calls for answers (pt 1)
A lawyer & banking victim in Beijing, told me: “Some depositors, myself included, can no longer survive. Because all of our money is stored there, some people may commit suicide, some depositors may hurt others. Everyone has a tipping point” (pt2)
Experts say the crisis in Henan is just the tip of the iceberg, as China’s economy slows & debt balloons. Frank Xie of University of South Carolina Aiken estimates “at least one-third or one-quarter of the small banks in China are in trouble” (pt3)
Last summer, government said it would start paying depositors back. While many did receive their money back, for the ones remaining, they’ve received no sympathy or even explanation One told me we’ve “been robbed of money, yet we are treated like criminals” (pt4)
At a protest this year, the victims chanted for their money back and held this poster: “America’s Silicon Valley Bank customers got their money back in three days. But China’s Henan village banks’ customers haven’t been given a cent in a year.” (pt 5)
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weehingthong 