Chinese retirees take to streets to protest health insurance cuts
The Hindu
The retirees were protesting local reforms including a recent cut to the monthly personal medical benefit allowance
Hundreds of retirees took to the streets in the Chinese cities of Wuhan and Dalian on February 15 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.
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