(Minghui.org) An 82-year-old retired college professor has had her pension suspended for nine years due to her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Tang Xuzhen was an Associate Professor of Anatomical Pathology at Southwest Medical University in Luzhou City, Sichuan Province. She took up Falun Gong in 1996 and credits the practice for curing her naso-pharyngeal cancer and many chronic illnesses, including fungal gastritis, hepatitis, cholecystitis, and nephritis.
To better help her patients, she often worked overtime without overtime pay. Her dedication and expertise earned her the respect of specialists, medical staff members, and patients. Even after she retired, her employer hired her back.
Practicing Falun Gong has also benefited her family. Her husband, who had tuberculosis, skin disease, and hepatitis B, became illness free. Having witnessed the miracles of Falun Gong, Ms. Tang refused to renounce her faith and persisted in telling people about her experience after the communist regime ordered the persecution in 1999.
Because of her efforts to speak up for Falun Gong, Ms. Tang was repeatedly arrested and detained. She served two years in a labor camp and three and a half years in prison. In addition to the mental distress and physical abuses in custody, Ms. Tang was extorted tens of thousands yuan by the authorities. Her children were demoted and sent to remote areas to work.
The Southwest Medical University suspended Ms. Tang’s pension after she was sentenced to 3.5 years in late 2009 for talking to people about Falun Gong. The school officials said they'd reinstate her pension if she wrote a statement to renounce Falun Gong. One official in particular claimed that the money from the Chinese Communist Party couldn’t be given to people who are against it. Ms. Tang refused to comply, as she didn't break any law by exercising her right to freedom of belief. Furthermore, she had earned her pension benefits through years of hard work, and it was not the CCP that funded her pension.
On October 9, 2016, Ms. Tang went to the school to demand reinstatement of her pension. The security personnel dragged her downstairs despite her advanced age and then reported her to the police. Several officers soon came and surrounded her. Holding her head and arms, they brought her to the police station. She was interrogated until 8 p.m. The police pricked her finger and forced her to press her fingerprints on the interrogation record. The Falun Gong materials she had in her purse were confiscated.
From that point on, the school leadership has refused to allow Ms. Tang to set foot on campus.
Ms. Tang had also gone to the local petition office to seek justice, but to no avail.
Ms. Tang went back to the school again on June 3, 2020. Before she got close to the school gate, she was stopped by the security personnel. They didn’t allow her to go further, saying that she didn’t have an appointment. Ms. Tang asked if they could help inform the school leadership of her request, but they replied that meeting with the school leadership would be like meeting with Xi Jinping, the leader of the Communist Party, and that not everyone can meet with them at will.
As they were speaking, three police officers arrived. They began to videotape Ms. Tang as soon as they came. Together with the security personnel, the officers pushed Ms. Tang out of the school again.
Related reports:
Ms. Tang Xuzhen, a Retired Associate Professor from Luzhou Medical Institute, Secretly Sentenced
