(Minghui.org) Shakespeare said, “To be, or not to be, that is the question.” To many Chinese, to keep silent, or not to keep silent, that is also an important question, especially when facing crimes committed by the state machine.

Traditional Chinese culture values self-cultivation and teaches people to stay calm when a conflict arises, to understand the whole issue thoroughly before jumping to conclusions, and to not criticize others at will.

Confucius said, “A person makes less mistakes if he listens more when he has questions and speaks carefully otherwise; and a person has fewer regrets if he looks more when he has questions and acts carefully otherwise.”

Lao Tzu (also referred to as Laozi) said, “The reason that the wise and perceptive person gets almost killed is because he likes to ridicule other’s shortcomings; the reason that the eloquent and well-informed person frequently gets into trouble is because he likes to talk about other’s faults.”

The ancient Chinese believed that “silence is golden,” which is the embodiment of the subtle and introverted nature of the Chinese people. Religious practitioners also have a golden rule to avoid “karma arising from the mouth.”

Keeping silent is a guiding principle for conducting oneself in interactions with others in daily affairs. However, should we still remain silent in the face of state-sanctioned crimes against law-abiding people, such as those committed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)?

Through its many rounds of political movements, the CCP has trained the Chinese people to stay silent on anything related to “politics.” People have become indifferent to others’ sufferings or to any social issues, so as to avoid becoming the CCP’s target and thus enjoy their own life of “freedom.” 

However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the CCP’s ruthless lockdowns have awakened many Chinese. People have realized that when faced with the Party’s lies and irresponsible actions, silence is no longer “golden” but rather a sin or something that leads to self-destruction.

Human beings, as a group, need to care for and support each other. Justice can only be served if we all work together to stop crimes and hold the perpetrators accountable.

The CCP launched a nationwide campaign against Falun Gong in July 1999 and has since produced continuous slanderous propaganda against Falun Gong and subjected countless practitioners to arrest, detention, torture, or even death by forced organ harvesting.

Yet many people, under the CCP’s deceit and intimidation, simply keep silent in the face of these criminal acts.

Canadian human rights attorney David Matas, who has been exposing the CCP’s organ harvesting crimes, said that there are too many people in the world who choose to collaborate with the CCP for political and economic gain.

That is to trade principles for interests. Our conscience should not accept it, human society should not accept it, and divine beings will not accept it, either.

It is time to do the right thing in the face of the CCP’s wrongdoing. Stop remaining silent and say “No!” to the CCP for the sake of justice and for one’s own salvation!