73-year-old Woman’s Pension Arbitrarily Suspended for Her Faith in Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) A 73-year-old woman in Liaoyang City, Liaoning Province received a call from the local Hongwei District Social Security Bureau on November 24, 2021, stating that they planned to suspend her pension because she refused to renounce her faith in Falun Gong.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Zang Fengxia frequented the Hongwei District Social Security Bureau and its supervising Liaoyang City Social Security Bureau to clarify the facts about Falun Gong and seek the reinstatement of her pension.

Her second son passed away due to a severe disease. Before Ms. Zhang’s pension was suspended, she provided some financial support towards his medical expense. His wife also worked two jobs to support the family and their son’s college tuition.

The social security bureau staff members told Ms. Zang that they were sympathetic towards her, but there wasn’t anything they could do to help her. With no other income, the widowed woman now relies on her daughter to get by.

Before taking up Falun Gong, Ms. Zang suffered many ailments. She tried various treatments, but none had much effect on her. A neighbor introduced Falun Gong to her in December 1997. She decided to give it a try and was surprised to see all her diseases disappear shortly after.

After the communist regime ordered the persecution in 1999, Ms. Zang persistently shared her story with people and raised awareness about the persecution. She was arrested in 2002 and later sentenced to five years in the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison by the Hongwei District Court.

The five-year prison term took a toll on her own health and also traumatized her family. Unable to bear the pressure, her first son passed away before she was released. A year after she came home, her husband also died.