(Minghui.org) When the Chinese communist regime began to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, the now deceased former Party head Jiang Zemin issued three eradication policies: “Ruin their reputations, bankrupt them financially, and destroy them physically.” In addition to spreading propaganda to smear Falun Gong, sentencing and torturing its practitioners, the communist regime has also ordered the local social security bureaus to suspend the practitioners’ pension, leaving them in dire financial situations.
This report shows how authorities in Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province carry out the financial persecution of retirees who were once jailed for practicing Falun Gong.
For practitioners who worked in the private sectors and had their pension managed by the social security bureaus, it’s the social security bureaus that withheld and suspended their pension payments.
For those who worked in the public sector, almost all of them had their decades of service wiped out from the pension calculations since June 2020, essentially rendering them with no retirement benefits. They were also ordered to return the pension they had received earlier during their prison terms. These practitioners include: Ms. Wu Xiulan, Mr. Wu Baogui, Ms. Wang Lige, Ms. He Jiumei, Mr. Li Shirong, Ms. Zhang Ruobing, Ms. Mu Shulan, Ms. Lu Suping and Ms. Xu Suqing.
In particular, Ms. Wu frequented the Jinzhou Social Security Bureau and sought reinstatement of her pension, but Dong Ye, the then head of the Section for Public Institution Pensions of Jinzhou Social Security Bureau ignored her request and ordered her to return the fund she had received during her prison term. Dong had a rude attitude towards the practitioners and sometimes verbally abused them.
In addition to the suspension of their pension, some practitioners also had other benefits, including health insurance or home heating subsidy, stopped.
Except Ms. Wu who has been receiving home heating subsidies, Mr. Wu, Ms. Wang and Ms. He all had this benefit cancelled by their former employers. Such non-pension fringe benefits were managed by their employers directly and not by the social security bureau, but their employers wrongfully supported the bureau in suspending the practitioners’ pensions and further reduced their other benefits arbitrarily.
Just like the lack of legal basis to sentence a Falun Gong practitioner, it was also unlawful for the authorities to suspend the practitioners’ pension, which was their lawfully earned assets, with contributions from themselves and their employers. Functionally speaking, the social security bureaus were merely managing the retirement funds for the practitioners. The payments didn’t come from the government or the social security bureaus. No individuals, companies or government entities has the authority to withhold a retiree’s pension, suspend it, or even demand the beneficiary to return it after having received the payment.
According to the Chinese “Constitution,” “Labor Law,” and “Social Insurance Law,” the prerequisite for one to start receiving pension is that one has made contributions for a total of 15 years and that one has reached the legal retirement age. And the only criterion to suspend one’s pension is that person’s passing.
Below are select cases of practitioners in Jinzhou who have had their pension suspended.
Ms. Wu Xiulan
Ms. Wu Xiulan is an 80-year-old retiree of the Jinzhou Environmental Science Institute. She was arrested in May 2015 and later sentenced to two years. In 2016, the Jinzhou Social Security Bureau suspended her pension.
Ms. Wu has been filing complaints against the social security bureau, demanding them to reinstate her pension. In 2018, the Jinzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Finance Bureau, Environmental Science Institute agreed to pay her minimum living allowance. She didn’t agree, but insisted on having her full pension – over 3,000 yuan per month.
As Ms. Wu continued to seek justice, the Linghe District Civil Affairs Bureau said in 2024 that they could give her special hardship relief for 1,200 yuan every month. Ms. Wu still refused to accept it, as it wasn’t enough to cover her basic living cost.
On February 6, 2025, Ms. Wu went to the Jinzhou Social Security Bureau, demanding the bureau to provide detailed records about the fund they had suspended from her. A staffer said they were unable to provide such information.
Ms. Wang Lige
Ms. Wang Lige, a former teacher with the Jinzhou City Second Middle School, was sentenced to four years in 2009. After she was released, the Jinzhou City Second Middle School merged with the Jinzhou City Fourth Middle School. The latter approved her retirement application in 2014. A few years later, the school was further merged with the Jinzhou City Experimental School, which worked with the Jinzhou City Social Security Bureau to suspend Ms. Wang’s pension in June 2020. Her health insurance, heating subsidy and government subsidy for having only one child were all stopped as well.
After not having any income for four years, Ms. Wang talked to the director of the Jinzhou City Experimental School and demanded them to at least issue her the heating subsidy and one-child subsidy. The director later told her that he consulted the school principal, the Jinzhou Social Security Bureau and the Jinzhou City Education Bureau, but they rejected her request.
Mr. Wu Baogui
Mr. Wu Baogui worked for the Jinzhou Fisheries Administration Office and retired in 2010. He was arrested on May 27, 2020 for talking to people about Falun Gong and sentenced to three years days later. After he was released in 2023, he was shocked to learn that his pension had been suspended for over two years and he was also ordered to return the over 300,000 yuan he had received earlier.
When Mr. Wu’s employer tried to help him secure some payments to cover the minimal living costs, the Jinzhou Municipal Finance Bureau, which is responsible for allocating retirement fund to Jinzhou Fisheries Administration Office, told the Office that Mr. Wu’s service record had been set to zero and he was no longer on the retirees’ roster to receive any payment.
Ms. He Jiumei
Ms. He Jiumei taught at the Qianyang Central Primary School in Yi County before she retired in September 2010. She was arrested in June 2015 and sentenced to four years on December 16, 2015 by the Linghe District Court. In April 2016, the Yi County Human Resources and Social Security Service Center suspended her pension. Her health insurance was also stopped in 2020. She contacted the school and social security service center many times, demanding them to reinstate her pension. The school leadership promised to discuss it with higher-ups, but her pension still isn’t reinstated at the time of writing.
Related Reports:
Copyright © 1999-2025 Minghui.org. All rights reserved.
