For millennia China’s poor and downtrodden have taken their grievances to the capital to seek redress from their rulers. In recent weeks, Beijing has witnessed something new – the arrival of growing numbers of wealthy petitioners.
On Monday, several dozen rich investors from around China gathered outside the headquarters of state-owned China Construction Bank in the heart of Beijing’s financial district to protest over the default of a high-interest “trust product”.
Wearing face-masks with “CCB return our money” written on them and chanting slogans, the protesters, several of them in their 60s, were dispersed after police detained six of them.