(Minghui.org) A married couple in Qiyang City, Hunan Province have had their pension benefits suspended since June 2022, simply because of their belief in Falun Gong, a mind-body spiritual practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party for 24 years.

Ms. Cui Anxiu, 60, used to work in the government before she retired. Mr. Tan Bangyao, 66, was a teacher at the Qiyang County No. 4 Middle School. Both worked hard for decades, only to see their pensions suspended without any legal basis. 

Zhang Yue, secretary of the Qiyang City Political and Legal Affairs Committee, Hu Guoqiang, director of the Qiyang City 610 Office and Zeng, deputy director, are the main perpetrators responsible for the couple’s pension suspension.

Both Ms. Cui and Mr. Tan took up Falun Gong in 1998. Ms. Cui credited the practice for freeing her from the suffering of gynecological diseases, a chest tumor and chronic dizziness. Mr. Tan also thanks Falun Gong for uplifting his character.

Since the onset of the persecution, the couple has been repeatedly targeted for their faith. Mr. Tan was arrested twice in 2002 (in July and October), and extorted for a total of 60,000 yuan.

While driving to nearby Changning City on June 22, 2015 to distribute informational materials about Falun Gong, Mr. Tan was reported by the village secretary and arrested at a highway toll station. He was interrogated and detained for 37 days. The police extorted another 30,000 yuan from him. 

The couple’s son, Mr. Tan Jiming, began to practice Falun Gong when he was 14. He tried to go to Beijing to appeal in the early years of the persecution, but was stopped by a relative. As he wrote about the benefits of Falun Gong in a high school seniors writing contest, he was reported and arrested. The police held him in custody for two days and interrogated him. He was later expelled by three colleges he attended, including the Wuhan University of Geosciences, Lingling Normal College and Zhuzhou Institute of Metallurgy, after his classmates reported him.