(Minghui.org) The Liaoning Province Superior Court ruled on March 2, 2026, that the suspended pension benefits must be returned to a married couple in Liaohe Oil Field, Panjin City in that province. They received the money within ten days of the ruling.
Mr. Cui Zhongxin, 89, and his wife, Ms. Qi Guoxin, 84, are both retired from the Liaohe Oil Field. Mr. Cui worked in the education section and Ms. Qi is a retired physician. Their pension benefits were stopped in September 2020 because they were unable to pay back a combined 270,000 yuan pension issued to them during their three-year prison sentence (April 2012 – April 2015) for practicing Falun Gong.
Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
The couple were told that their pension could only be reinstated after they paid off their “debt.”
The Chinese Constitution, the Social Insurance Law, the Labor Law, and the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Elderly People all protect the hard-earned pension benefits of retirees. No law stipulates that Falun Gong practitioners should have their pension suspended while serving [wrongful] terms for their faith.
The couple filed a lawsuit against the Liaohe Petroleum Exploration Authority, the Liaohe Oil Field Petition Office, and the Liaohe Oil Field Social Security Office for withholding their pension.
The Liaohe Oil Field Court ruled against the couple. They appealed to 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 under the Liaoning Province Human Resources and the Social Security Department. Because of this change, the intermediate court ordered the Shenyang Railroad Transportation Court to handle the retrial case.
The Shenyang Railroad Transportation Court heard the case on June 26, 2023, and ruled against the couple at an unknown date.
The couple filed an administrative supervision request with the Shenyang Railroad Transportation Procuratorate, requesting it investigate the latest ruling against them. In China, procuratorates are given the authority to examine verdicts issued by trial courts. If they deem the court rulings inappropriate, they can file appeals on behalf of the petitioners.
The Shenyang Railroad Transportation Procuratorate determined that the suspension of the couple’s pension indeed broke the law and forwarded the case to the Liaoning Province Procuratorate, which concurred with the lower procuratorate and later submitted the case to the Liaoning Province Superior Court.
The superior court held a hearing on January 16, 2026. Two prosecutors from the Liaoning Province Procuratorate were present to support the couple, who also had a lawyer representing them.
One of the prosecutors read aloud the couple’s appeal. Representatives for the defendants, including the Liaohe Petroleum Exploration Authority, the Liaohe Oil Field Petition Office, and the Liaohe Oil Field Social Security Office, and the Liaoning Province Social Insurance Service Center, presented their defense statements.
When it was Mr. Cui’s turn to talk toward the end of the hearing, he explained how difficult it was for him and his wife to seek justice for themselves. After nine hearings in two places (Panjin and Shenyang) in four years, they were finally able to stand before the superior court judges to make their case. They asked the high court to reinstate their pension, as recommended by the Liaoning Province Procuraroate.
The high court ruled in favor of Mr. Cui and Ms. Qi on March 2, 2026, and ordered their suspended pension be returned in ten days. They have since received the retirement benefits that were withheld from September 2020 to March 2026.
Related Reports:
Married Couple's Retrial to Take Place Soon in Legal Fight to Reinstate Unlawfully Suspended Pension
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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