(Minghui.org) A married couple in Liaohe Oil Field, Panjin City, Liaoning Province have had their pensions suspended since August 2020 for their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1999. They filed a lawsuit against the relevant agencies and lost. They then filed an appeal and the local higher court ruled to revoke the trial court’s decision and ordered a retrial.
A hearing in the retrial has been scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Monday, June 26, 2023.
Taking up Falun Gong
Mr. Cui Zhongxin, 86, and his wife, Ms. Qi Guoxin, 81, are both retirees of the First Drilling Company of Liaohe Oil Field. Mr. Cui worked in the education section of the company and his wife was a doctor in the company-affiliated hospital.
Mr. Cui developed a lot of health issues after he retired and was later diagnosed with erosive atrophic gastritis by a local cancer hospital. He had surgery but didn’t see much improvement.
In 1996, a parent of one of Mr. Cui’s former students gave him a copy of Zhuan Falun, the main teachings of Falun Gong. He finished reading the book in 13 hours and soon recovered from his illnesses. He was able to ride a bicycle and didn’t feel tired going up stairs. His wife was initially skeptical of Falun Gong’s healing effects, but changed her mind upon witnessing Mr. Cui’s miraculous recovery. She took up Falun Gong a year later, and her hepatitis and nephritis soon disappeared.
Repeated Persecution and Previous Pension Suspension
After the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, Mr. Cui and Ms. Qi were repeatedly targeted for upholding their faith.
Both Subjected to Forced Labor and Pensions Suspended
The couple went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong on October 1, 2000 and were arrested at Tiananmen Square. They were both given two years of forced labor and had their pensions suspended during their entire detention period. Mr. Cui was tortured at the Panjin Labor Education Center.
Ms. Qi was arrested again in August 2005 and given another two years of forced labor, during which time her pension was suspended again. She was also brutally tortured at the Panjin Forced Labor Camp.
A deputy team lead surnamed Jia often verbally abused detained Falun Gong practitioners, including Ms. Qi, after drinking alcohol. He also forced them to bend over, spread their legs far apart, or stay in other uncomfortable positions for long periods of time.
One one occasion, Ms. Qi was unable to memorize a CCP propaganda piece within the stipulated time. Liu Dahan, another deputy team lead, beat her three times with a baton, leaving marks on her body that were still visible days later. He also threatened to shock her with an electric baton.
Ms. Qi was forced to do unpaid labor, including cleaning oil production sites for the oil field. In the deep winter, she was forced to sit in a convertible outdoors, shivering in the cold. In the hot summer, she was forced to run laps outside under the scorching sun. The sweat on her face formed a layer of white salt. She was also deprived of sleep and subjected to various forms of corporal punishment.
Both Sentenced to Three Years
Ms. Qi and Mr. Cui returned to their hometown in Tai’an County in Liaoning Province on April 4, 2012, for the Tomb-sweeping Day (a Chinese holiday to pay respects to one’s ancestors). They planned to stay there for a few weeks, but were arrested on the morning of April 17, 2012, by agents from the Tai’an County Domestic Security Office.
Ms. Qi was released on bail that afternoon and Mr. Cui was sent to the Tai’an County Detention Center. Both were later sentenced to three years in prison, with Mr. Cui, then 75, sent to Panjin Prison and Ms. Qi, then 70, to Shenyang Women’s Prison.
Ms. Qi was forced to do unpaid labor in the prison, and her health gradually declined. She couldn’t see anything with both her eyes and was diagnosed with having a “macular hole.” She had surgery but didn’t have much improvement. When she was released, she could only see a little light. After listening to Falun Gong’s audio teachings, however, she regained her eyesight in just one month.
After the couple were released at the end of their prison terms, their sons said they were scammed while trying to use connections to get them released earlier. The sons not only used up the couple’s pension benefits issued during their imprisonment, but had also borrowed some money. It took the family one year to pay off the debts.
Latest Pension Suspension
The Liaohe Oil Field Retirement Office notified the couple over the phone at the end of August 2020 that their pension would be suspended starting in September that year.
The couple went to the Liaohe Oil Field Social Security Office and asked why their lawfully-earned pension benefits would be suspended. They were told that according a policy issued by the provincial government, retirees who are sentenced must have their pension benefits forfeited during their imprisonment.
Mr. Cui and Ms. Qi were issued a total in 270,000 yuan of pension benefits during their three-year imprisonment. The social security office was seeking the return of the “pension debt” by suspending their future pension benefits. They said once the “pension debt” was paid off, the couple’s pension payments would resume. They also said if the couple had funds to pay off the 270,000 yuan “debt” in a lump sum, then there would be no need for pension suspension.
The couple said they had no money to pay any “pension debt,” especially given that they had not recovered from paying off the debt their sons took on while trying to seek their release during their imprisonment.
The social security office then offered to issue the couple a monthly stipend to cover their living expenses if they agreed to pay a portion of the 270,000 yuan “pension debt.”
The couple rejected the offer as they realized that the social security office’s suspension of their pension had violated the Chinese Constitution, the Social Insurance Law, the Labor Law, and the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Elderly People, all of which protect the hard-earned pension benefits of retirees.
In particular, Article 73 of the Labor Law stipulates that “workers shall enjoy social insurance benefits in accordance with the law when they retire. The conditions and standards for workers to enjoy social insurance benefits shall be stipulated by laws and regulations. The social insurance benefits enjoyed by workers must be paid in full and on time.”
Article 34 of the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Elderly People stipulates that “the old-age pension, medical care and other treatment that the elderly enjoy according to the law shall be guaranteed. Relevant institutions must pay in full and on time, and shall not withhold, default in payments of or embezzle such funds.”
Seeking Justice
The couple appealed to various government agencies, seeking an immediate reinstatement of their pension benefits and the return of the pension funds suspended during their forced labor detention.
They mailed their appeal letter to the heads of two central government agencies, three provincial-government agencies, and three local agencies, including:
The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the Pension Service Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs;
The Liaoning Province Petition Office, the Liaoning Province Human Resources and Social Security Department, and the Liaoning Province Social Security Bureau (which is under the supervision of the second agency listed before it);
The Liaohe Petroleum Exploration Authority (which oversees the Liaohe Oil Field), the Liaohe Oil Field Petition Office, and the Liaohe Oil Field Social Security Office.
Only one agency, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, responded and asked the couple to work with the local agencies to resolve the matter.
The Liaohe Petroleum Exploration Authority, the Liaohe Oil Field Petition Office, and the Liaohe Oil Field Social Security Office refused to reinstate the couple’s pension. Mr. Cui and Ms. Qi then filed a lawsuit against them with the Liaohe Oil Field Court, which didn’t accept the case until the couple made four rounds of revisions to their complaint at its request. The court soon ruled against the couple.
The couple proceeded to file an appeal with the Liaohe Oil Field Intermediate Court, which revoked the trial court’s decision and ordered a retrial.
Mr. Cui and Ms. Qi added a new defendant to their retrial case, the Liaoning Province Social Insurance Service Center, which oversees the Liaohe Oil Field Social Security Office and is part of the Liaoning Province Human Resources and Social Security Department. Because of this change, the intermediate court ordered the Shenyang Railroad Transportation Court to handle the retrial case.
Mr. Cui and Ms. Qi submitted the required paperwork to the new trial court and received a hearing notice six months later. The hearing was set to take place in the second courtroom of the Shenyang Railroad Transportation Court on June 26, 2023.
Jia Yini was assigned to be the presiding judge, Gao Han the clerk, and Du Jia the assistant (+86-24-62042748).
Shenyang Railway Transportation Court: +86-24-62043758, +86-24-6204118, +86-24-62043341, +86-24-62042000
Related Reports:
Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners at Liaohe Oil Field in Liaoning Province
China's Forced Labor Camps and Their Horrors Not Abolished, Just Renamed
84 Falun Gong Practitioners Confirmed Still Detained in Liaoning Women's Prison (Graphic Photo)
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