Commentary
Protests are spreading in China due to extreme COVID-19 lockdowns, employer and bank failures, rationing of food and sanitation, and Xi Jinping’s attempt at an unprecedented third term as leader.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claims that foreigners instigate the protests, which are censored. Rebellious netizens then repost them, including to the blockchain, making them impossible to delete.
CCP lockdowns, which arguably have no legal basis, are costing China as much as $46 billion per month. That’s 3.1 percent of GDP. As businesses stop operating and depositing funds in banks, the financial system is starting to falter.
In China’s inland Henan Province, about equidistant from Beijing and Shanghai, protests of bank depositors emerged when three local banks froze as much as $1.5 billion in customer assets without explanation. Depositors are protesting at bank branches, according to a report on May 18….