(Minghui.org) Mr. Bai Shizhong’s pension has been suspended for nearly 11 years after he was imprisoned in 2010 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Mr. Bai, a 77-year-old resident of Keshan County, Heilongjiang Province, retired from the state-owned Keshan Farm in 2007. His pension was completely stopped during both of his prison terms—which totaled 8.5 years (2010-2015 and 2019-2022). After he completed his second prison sentence in August 2022, the Keshan County Social Security Bureau did not resume his pension payments right away but instead ordered him to pay back the cost-of-living adjustment portion (totaling more than 70,000 yuan) of the retirement benefits issued to him in between his two prison terms (2016-2019).
The bureau also said that even after Mr. Bai paid back the requested amount, his future benefits would be at the 2010-level of around 1,600 yuan per month. Based on Mr. Bai’s years of service and salary history, he was entitled to a monthly pension of more than 3,000 yuan in 2022.
By law, pensions are retirees’ lawful assets and cannot be forfeited by any public or private agencies. Social security bureaus across China are just agencies tasked with managing and dispensing retirement benefits. Mr. Bai thus appealed to have his pension reinstated with the Keshan County Social Security Bureau, its supervising agency – the Qiqihar City Farm Management Social Security Bureau, the Keshan Farm and various appeals offices numerous times, to no avail.
When Mr. Bai asked to have at least some monthly stipends while he sorted out the pension suspension issue, the Keshan County Social Security Bureau said he must sign a document to acknowledge he owed them the above mentioned 70,000+ yuan. He refused to sign as the money they were attempting to take back from him was his hard-earned money. He was thus not given a stipend to cover basic living expenses. Without a pension or stipend, he struggled to survive.
At the end of 2023, Mr. Bai and his family visited the Heilongjiang Province Farm Management Social Security Bureau, which oversees the Qiqihar City Farm Management Social Security Bureau. They learned that the various social security bureaus at different levels were not enforcing laws such as law labor, social insurance law, and the law on Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly. Instead, they all cited Policies No. 69 and No. 14 to justify their decisions.
When Mr. Bai demanded to see the policies, he was told that they were confidential documents. The bureau workers said they could only verbally explain to him what the policies were about. As a matter of fact, they all signed non-disclosure agreements to not share the policies in writing with anyone, in any form.
Mr. Bai was also told that he could pursue legal actions if he was not satisfied with the decision to withhold his pension. It is unclear whether he is planning a lawsuit against the various levels of social security bureaus.
Two Prison Sentences
Mr. Bai’s first prison sentence was triggered by his arrest in May 2010, after he was reported for installing a satellite dish for someone to access uncensored news. Two other practitioners who worked with him on the installation project were also arrested at the same time. The police confiscated 10 satellite dishes and parts worth more than 10,000 yuan between the three of them. Mr. Bai’s computer was also seized.
They were held at a local police department overnight before being transferred to the Qiqihar Farm Management Detention Center the next day. Five months later, Mr. Bai was sentenced to five years in prison. His wife, who had a relapse of her high blood pressure and heart problem during the police raid of their home, died shortly after his wrongful conviction.
Mr. Bai was arrested again in April 2019 and had his home ransacked. The police seized more than 20,000 yuan worth of valuables from his home, including his Falun Gong books, computer, printer, appliances, and cash. Some of the items still have not been returned as of today.
A local court later sentenced Mr. Bai to three years and fined him 10,000 yuan. His children went to various government agencies to file complaints against the arresting officer, the prosecutor, and the judge for wrongfully arresting, indicting, and sentencing him. The Heilongjiang Province Farm Management Intermediate Court tasked a lower level intermediate court with investigating the case. The lower court claimed it found no evidence that the police, the prosecutor, and the judge violated legal procedures. Mr. Bai’s children asked for information disclosure but the court said the case had been closed. They were videotaped against their will before being driven away.
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