(Minghui.org) A retired employee of Hunan University of Science and Technology has had more than 160,000 yuan of pension withheld since 2003 because of refusing to give up her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that is being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
Ms. Gao Huifang, a 79-year-old resident of Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, began to practice Falun Gong in 1997 and was grateful to see many of her ailments cured afterward.
After the communist regime ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, the school authorities threatened Ms. Gao and other practitioners working there to give up their faith or risk losing their jobs or benefits. Ms. Gao refused to comply.
Ms. Gao was reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials in May 2003. Chen Lixin, the head of the school's security department, and Zhai Qinguo, the deputy head of the 610 Office, ransacked her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books and related materials.
The 610 Office is an extralegal agency created specifically to persecute Falun Gong.
Ms. Gao was held in detention for ten days. From then on, school officials often harassed her and sent her to brainwashing sessions. Her family lived in tremendous pressure because of the harassment.
After the authorities found a local Falun Gong practitioner visited Ms. Gao in late 2003, the school began to withhold 750 yuan from her pension each month, leaving her with only 300 yuan.
Although the school later increased Ms. Gao's pension in 2014, it was still 1,100 yuan short of what she was entitled to given her years of service at the school.
With 750 yuan per month between late 2003 and 2014 (roughly 11 years), and 1,100 yuan per month between 2014 and 2019 (5 years), the total amount that has been withheld from Ms. Gao is 165,000 yuan (= 750*12*11 + 1,100*12*5).
In addition to the pension withheld, Ms. Gao has also been deprived of her right to bonuses and other benefits her school offers to other retirees.
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