CCP’s Tank Rollout: A Military Exercise or Something More?

Over the last couple of days, posts on Twitter of CCP tanks have surfaced. The tank rollout has caused much speculation. According to Human Rights activist Jennifer Zeng, the CCP deployed tanks onto the streets of Rizhao City in the Shandong province as part of a yearly military exercise. Si Chen, a researcher for the Associated Press, has backed Zeng’s claim.

On July 19, an anonymous Twitter account posted a video claiming China deployed tanks to protect the Henan branch of The National Bank of China. The tweet claimed, “The Henan branch of the Bank of China declaring that people’s savings in their branch are now ‘investment products’ and can’t be withdrawn.” Many speculated this due to recent protests in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan. However, many believed the tanks rolling out were for a completely different reason.

The protests occurred when certain banks in Zhengzhou had many Chinese citizens opening accounts at these banks with high-interest rates. However, citizens were unable to withdraw from their accounts because many of the high-ranking members of these banks are under financial investigation due to financial crimes from their parent companies. While Chinese authorities claim customers will get their deposits back, they have no answer how.

While both reasons are believable, there is evidence that supports the former. In the background of one of the videos, a large building lit up in yellow with distinct columns. This building is the Ji Hotel, located in Rizhao City. A worker at the hotel told the Associated Press that the tank rollout is a military exercise that happens every year and that she saw the tanks on July 17.