By Martin Quin Pollard and Laurie Chen
BEIJING (Reuters) – Hundreds of retirees took to the streets in the Chinese cities of Wuhan and Dalian on Wednesday to protest cuts to medical benefits, according to residents and social media posts, following widespread demonstrations last year over COVID curbs.
In the central city of Wuhan, hundreds of mainly elderly people could be seen outside the city's central Zhongshan Park in video clips posted to social media.
One video from Wuhan verified by Reuters showed pushing and shoving between protestors and uniformed security personnel. Reuters could not immediately verify images from Dalian and some others from Wuhan widely shared on social media.
The demonstrations come weeks ahead of China's annual parliamentary gathering in early March.
The retirees were protesting local reforms including a recent cut to the monthly personal medical benefit allowance for retirees, from 260 yuan ($38) per month to 83 yuan, according to Wuhan residents. It followed a protest over the same issue last week in Wuhan.
Some sang songs including the Internationale, which is popular at protests in China. Others held phones aloft and recorded the event.
"This money is very little, but to old people it is life-saving money," said Wuhan resident Zhang Hai, who did not attend Wednesday’s protest but said some of his friends did.
"People are not prosperous, so every little bit of money is hugely important," he told Reuters.
While street protests over local issues are not unheard of in China, Wednesday's events follow rare demonstrations in November in cities across the country over China's tough zero-COVID policy, which Beijing abruptly abandoned in December.
The protests come as many local governments are fiscally strained after COVID curbs ravaged the economy and as three years of spending on coronavirus controls depleted funds.
In China's health benefit system, some money goes to a personal medical allowance and other funds are pooled.
Wednesday's protests in Wuhan and in Dalian in China's northeast attracted a heavy security presence, according to videos and pictures on social media.
Local authorities in both cities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Several Wuhan residents said that they believed police knew about the protest in advance, as notices advising people not to attend had circulated on social media, including one seen by Reuters.
Several of Zhang's friends who planned to attend were asked by residential authorities to sign a commitment "not to hold illegal protests, gatherings or demonstrations in public spaces" or post content about the protest, according to a copy of a notice seen by Reuters.
They were barred from leaving their homes by police, Zhang added.
($1 = 6.8381 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Martin Quin Pollard, Laurie Chen, Yew Lun Tian; Additional reporting by the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Tony Munroe and Raissa Kasolowsky)
Romney fires back at the far-right lawmaker's call for a "national divorce."
Russia tried and failed a test launch of its new "Satan II" intercontinental ballistic missile while Joe Biden was in Ukraine on Monday, according to a report.
The Republican governor's 2022 law would have increased tax bills on Central Florida property owners by thousands of dollars each for a decade and a half.
"You're not going to be shocked. It's not rocket science," the forewoman said when asked if they'll ask for the former president to be charged
"Not a word about failures and defeats. Blah blah blah, there's no point in listening anymore," Igor Girkin said in a Telegram post on Tuesday.
The former president said his personal relationship with the Russian autocrat would have prevented the invasion
Vivek Ramaswamy, an Indian American Republican dubbed by New Yorker magazine as the “CEO of Anti-Woke Inc.,” is reportedly considering running for president of the United States in 2024. Ramaswamy, who was born to Indian immigrant parents in Cincinnati, received his education at Yale and Harvard and later found success as a biotech entrepreneur. Should Ramaswamy ultimately decide to run, he is set to join Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump in vying for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has granted Fox News host Tucker Carlson and his team access to surveillance footage from the U.S. Capitol around the time of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Carlson was granted access to some 41,000 hours of footage by McCarthy’s office, Axios first reported on Monday. A Fox News spokesperson confirmed…
Mastriano, who was backed by Trump in a campaign for Pennsylvania governor last year, is holding a hearing this week on the East Palestine accident.
Just under a dozen countries allow foreigners to buy so-called golden passports, which cost between $100K in Dominica and $9.5 million in Austria.
“This is what happens when you bring despots and their scions back to power,” says a Filipino political science professor.
Putin hoped to use a landmark annual speech to mention the recent launch of the Sarmat missile, nicknamed Satan II, but CNN said it failed.
President Vladimir Putin revoked on Tuesday a 2012 decree that in part underpinned Moldova's sovereignty in resolving the future of the Transdniestria region – a Moscow-backed separatist region which borders Ukraine and where Russia keeps troops. The decree, which included a Moldova component, outlined Russia's foreign policy 11 years ago which assumed Moscow's closer relations with the European Union and the United States. The order revoking the 2012 document was published on the Kremlin's website and states that the decision was taken to "ensure the national interests of Russia in connection with the profound changes taking place in international relations".
Losing the war in Ukraine is the best hope for Russia to get back on the path to economic and social stability.
Emmanuel Macron has visited an early morning market to extol the value of hard work and getting up early, as he launched a public relations campaign to build support for his controversial pension reforms.
Trump’s rollback of safety regulations came after extensive lobbying from the rail industry during and prior to his tenure, with Norfolk Southern saying that it had “opposed additional speed limitations and requiring ECP brakes” in a 2015 lobbying disclosure.
The roadmap towards peace between Ukraine and Russia, which China is expected to propose in coming days, may include calls for an end to arms supplies to Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 20.
CNN CEO Chris Licht says Don Lemon will receive formal training after the TV host said Nikki Haley is not "in her prime," sparking backlash.
Brit Hume is skeptical about the former president's prospects in the 2024 race.
Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., suggested that the United States go through a "national divorce" and have states separate along party lines on Presidents Day.
We will be happy to hear your thoughts
