Explained: Why China is now witnessing protests from elderly?

"Give me back my medical insurance money," protestors are heard saying in one video.

Months after China witnessed anti-government protests, now elderly have hit the streets in Wuhan and Dalian.

In the clips doing rounds on social media sites, 100s of elderly are seen protesting outside the city's central Zhongshan Park. In one such video, protesters and uniformed security guards were seen pushing and shoving each other and this clip from Wuhan, where Covid-19 was first reported, has been verified by Reuters.

What is the protest all about?
It is reported that tens of thousands of Chinese pensioners are upset with the authorities over the health insurance reforms that were introduced as cash-strapped city governments sought to control spending in the aftermath of China's zero-Covid policy. Personal medical insurance benefits for Wuhan retirees were reduced from about 5 per cent of the average basic pension to 2.5 per cent, or 83 yuan ($12) per month, according to the Wuhan Healthcare Security Administration. This has come into effect from February 1.

"Give me back my medical insurance money," protestors are heard saying in one video, which AFP geolocated to the city's Renmin Square, where a number of local government buildings are situated.

The reforms are affecting 300 million urban residents, Chinese financial news outlet Caixin reported. "This money is very little but to old people, it is life-saving money," Wuhan resident Zhang Hai told Reuters. "People are not prosperous, so every little bit of money is hugely important," he said.

The insurance reforms were gradually introduced in 2021 with aim of shifting accumulated savings from personal accounts to public accounts. It is because local government finances have been affected due to China's draconian zero-COVID policy.

However, authorities say that the reforms will benefit the "the sick and elderly in particular will benefit more". However, elderly people complain that the reimbursement threshold for doctor visits is too high and only who make frequent appointments seeking expensive treatment would benefit. "Elderly people often need to buy small quantities of medicine but don't spend much on doctor visits. As a result of the medical reforms, their expenses will increase by a lot," Reuters quoted a Wuhan resident as saying.

Similarly, China had witnessed rare anti-government protests against its Zero Covid policy in November 2022. This reportedly forced the government to lift its draconian Covid policy.