Everyone. Recently, many people have found that the party's online circumvention tools have failed many times, and many VPNs can't be found. Circumventing the firewall has become intermittent because the technology is always in a cat-and-mouse game. Once the circumvention software is blocked, you can't get out. Building walls is an ancient tradition and a technique of governance. From China's Qin Shihuang to the Ming Dynasty, physical walls were built. When the internet age arrived, China built a digital wall called the Great Firewall. This online "wall" isolates China from the world, turning China's internet into a giant intranet. If Chinese people want to see the real world, they must "climb the wall."

Last week, we introduced Mr. Zhou Youguang, who said that information cannot be stopped, just like water, it will always flow. Water flows from high to low places, and information, like water, flows from information-rich areas to information-poor ones. In the internet age, why spend enormous human and material resources to build a wall? Why isolate China from the world? The simple answer is: China is an autocratic state. To maintain its rule, it must rely on a policy of keeping the people ignorant to sustain its legitimacy. Only by keeping the people exposed to a single, filtered stream of information can they be prevented from thinking independently, thus continuing to endure and obey.

Governments around the world have made it clear that they derive their authority from the consent of the governed, elected by the people. The extent to which they are good governments is not determined by self-proclamation but by the judgment of the people. The wall China has built is a wall of imprisonment, a wall to keep people ignorant. It turns a country into a "walled country" and its citizens into "wall citizens." The "walled country" is the reality of China today. Those who climb the wall do so to get information, to breathe the air of freedom, to learn the truth, and to avoid being fooled.

There is a distinction between being pitiable and being contemptible. A person's birthplace, the country they are born into, is not a matter of choice. Being born Chinese on this land is an innate identity, and the person is innocent in this regard. However, if a person gets used to a life of being penned in, considers it natural and right, and even actively defends the wall and acts as a "wumao" (a government-paid internet commentator), then that person is contemptible. This is the meaning behind "those enslaved in body are pitiable; those enslaved in mind are contemptible." We should not be content as "wall citizens" but strive to be citizens with free minds.

"Walled country" is a very fitting metaphor. A professor at Oxford University named Stein Ringen, who is of Norwegian descent, wrote a book titled "The Perfect Dictatorship: China in the 21st Century." Many Western scholars studying China believe that the traditional term "autocracy" is no longer sufficient to describe the sophistication and depth of its ruling model.

To describe it more accurately, Ringen coined a new term: "Controlocracy." Under this system, the government's control over the people is omnipresent. This form of rule is called "perfect" because it is unique in a sense. Its uniqueness lies not just in the government imposing control unilaterally, but in its success at getting a portion of the populace to participate in this control, achieving self-censorship and mutual surveillance. The voices of the few can be suppressed before they are even heard, and many who are willing to be "wall citizens" will actively defend this wall.

However, China is not an isolated entity. There are Europe, South Korea, and many other countries and regions in the world. The people there have freedom and access to an uncensored world. China's model of total control attempts to keep billions of people in an information cocoon long-term, maintaining their ideological unity and purity. This may be effective in the short term, but in the long run, in an open and interconnected world, it is futile to try to completely block the flow of information. A closed system cannot sustain its power indefinitely; it will eventually collapse due to internal rigidity and external pressures.

Those who live in the "walled country" but are strong-willed and independent in thought may be in a repressive environment, but their minds are not imprisoned. They will strive to seek the truth and contemplate the future of the country. For the "wall citizens," no matter how powerful the rulers are, they can still look up at the stars. If we view the state of "wall citizens" from Mr. Zhou Youguang's perspective, it becomes quite clear. A closed system can block information, but it cannot control or even influence those who are mentally strong and self-motivated. Their culture and values are open; they can distinguish right from wrong and will ultimately find the right path.

Now, more and more people who are unwilling to be "wall citizens" have a strong need to climb the wall. Every successful act of circumvention is an assault on this wall. People who get out can gain a broader perspective, look at their country with a critical eye, see the problems clearly, and make correct judgments. Climbing the wall is the first step to getting the truth. It allows you to see concealed facts, encounter new ideas, and become a person in the truest sense. To climb the wall and reach the wider world means you believe you have the right to access uncensored information and the ability to think and judge with your own mind.

Every successful act of climbing the wall is a step towards freedom. It requires courage and ability. Looking back at the past few decades, the core of modern civilized nations is the rule of law, freedom, and human rights. Can these goals be achieved? The answer is not necessarily yes. The path to modernization is not smooth, and many countries have gone astray in its pursuit. But at least in a normal society, people have basic rights and dignity.

People long for peace, tranquility, and happiness; this is a universal desire. The legendary Canadian singer Leonard Cohen wrote in his song "Anthem": "There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." This lyric is full of profound philosophy. On the "wall," we should look for those cracks. The rulers want the wall to be perfect, but cracks will always exist.

For the "wall citizens," the first step is to find the cracks and then get out. Many people in China, under the pressure of reality, exhibit a posture of "kneeling to survive." But in any era, the first duty of an ordinary person is to save themselves, and then to help those around them. When a person can help others—to open their eyes, clear their minds, and escape from ignorance—they are fulfilling their responsibility. Self-rescue is not selfishness; it is the beginning of taking responsibility.

A major problem in Chinese society is that many people just kneel and dare not seek change. All they think about every day is how to protect themselves. However, in both the physical and spiritual worlds, there are paths illuminated by the light of modern civilization. Leonard Cohen said there is a crack in everything. This wall, though strong, is not impenetrable. We should look for those cracks, let the light in, to illuminate ourselves and others.