[Selected Opinion Articles] Those Who Acquiesce Are Also Accomplices

(Minghui.org) Stranger, also known as Secret Forest, is a South Korean crime thriller television drama series broadcast in 2017. As one of the best TV shows that year, it depicted a prosecutor who accidentally got involved in a serial murder case. When trying to uncover the truth, he met with continued obstacles from the prosecutor’s office, the police, and a large industrial conglomerate. 

Corruption was seen across these agencies. But in the effort to find out the real murderer and reveal the truth, one person after another lost their lives. And many people who had information chose to remain silent for self-protection. “Anyone who chooses to acquiesce is also an accomplice,” stated the drama poster. 

Yet similar situations exist beyond television series. In China, where innocent Falun Gong practitioners have been suppressed for the past 23 years, how many people have the courage to discover the truth or simply choose to follow the persecution policy set by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)? 

Remaining Silent or Not

There is a saying that “silence is golden.” Were it to refer to taking one’s own interest lightly and refraining from fighting with others, it would be a merit and an admirable trait. But when it comes to sacrificing one’s own conscience to avoid retaliation from the bully, it only leads to more tragedies that eventually hurt us all. 

Like other totalitarian regimes, the CCP needs support from the public every time it launches campaigns targeting various vulnerable groups. Again and again, many chose to keep silent, thinking that since they have not been put on the butcher block yet, why suffer for others instead of protecting themselves? But it is just such a mentality that empowers the bully, who may eventually come at those who remained silent. 

This is how the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners is played out. As a peaceful meditation group based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, few people would be at odds with Falun Gong without external influence. But after former CCP leader Jiang Zemin launched the nationwide persecution in 1999, a large percentage of the population acquiesced to the brutality, leading to one of the worst human rights violations of the modern world. 

Few people have realized that the general public’s silence in the face of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners enabled police officers to find “justification” to arrest practitioners at will, detention facility guards to torture detained practitioners, and court officials to sentence practitioners. Especially on the issue of forced organ harvesting of living practitioners, acquiescence by the doctors or nurses involved in the atrocity has resulted in the deaths of an unknown number of Falun Gong practitioners and helped cover up this crime against humanity. But, where does such “silence” lead an individual or society?

Universal Values

From our heart, we all know the importance of honesty and integrity, and we often tell our children to stay away from those who tell lies and harm others. But when the CCP fabricates lies to defame Falun Gong practitioners for their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, how many people know to stay away from the CCP? 

“All political power comes from the barrel of a gun,” wrote Mao Zedong. That is how the CCP has intimidated the Chinese people over the past many decades, convincing people that anyone who dares to challenge the regime will be wiped out. In addition, the CCP has fabricated countless lies to brainwash the public, making the suppressed, as well as those who carry out the persecution, believe that following the Party line is the only way to survive and move forward. During this process, acquiescence by the general public has again and again fueled the ruthless fire against the innocent throughout the CCP’s ongoing political campaigns. 

The fire destroyed intellectuals’ courage to speak out in the 1950s, nearly wiped out traditional Chinese culture during the Cultural Revolution, served as a sleeping pill that prevented people being awakened by the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, and also caused innumerable tragedies to Falun Gong practitioners over the past 23 years.

What Goes Around Comes Around

The unfortunate reality is that in the end we will pay a price for acquiescing to the CCP’s atrocities. 

When people no longer care about their conscience, all sorts of issues emerge. The counterfeit food and poisonous baby formulas have led people to distrust the food we eat in China. After the systemic cover-up and misinformation by the CCP caused the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire world is suffering. 

Because of the CCP-controlled news media, few of the CCP-caused tragedies have been exposed. The recent Xi’an lockdownfurther highlighted the CCP’s ruthless nature, while the issue of human trafficking did not catch the public’s attention until the recent “Woman in Chains” incident in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. 

People are saying that when three professions – judges, doctors, and teachers – are corrupt, society will be over. Right now, the situation is much worse, as nearly all professions, especially government officials, have been brainwashed by the CCP to varying extents. 

Falun Gong practitioners, along with the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, are the hope of China and mankind. Over 390 million Chinese people have withdrawn from the CCP organizations – which also includes the affiliated youth organizations, the Communist Youth League and the Young Pioneers – for a better future. As more people are rejecting the CCP around the world, our clear conscience will bring a new opportunity for us and our children.