US double standard on terror to check China's rise

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced that the US will rid the East Turkestan Islamic Movement of the terrorist organization tag, citing lack of conclusive evidence in this regard, a statement issued on the State Department's website on Nov 5 says.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson responded in a news conference a day later saying that the US' turnaround on the ETIM only exposes Washington's "double standard" on terrorism, while urging it to immediately rectify its mistake.

Extremists in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have long jeopardized China's national security and social stability. Shortly after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, China publicly condemned terrorism and pledged to actively support the US in its fight against terrorism, opening a bilateral anti-terrorism cooperation channel between the two countries.

On Jan 16, 2002, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution, sponsored by China and the US among other countries, strengthening sanctions against the Taliban, al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden. The ETIM was designated a terrorist organization on Sept 11 that year.

In the early days of its anti-terrorism cooperation with China, because the ETIM was directly involved in terrorist activities, the US did condemn the ETIM and designate it as a target for military strikes. Washington also announced sanctions against some of the ETIM's leaders.

However, the US has always employed double standard for maintaining its hegemony against China. The US pursues exclusive national security, treating the interests of other countries as being subordinate to its own. For example, after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, the US banned terrorist remarks at home through legislation and such restrictions on the freedom of speech were still understood and supported by many people around the world. However, the US administration resorts to double standard when China employs similar practices against terrorist activities plotted by the ETIM.

Terror attacks launched by the ETIM have resulted in the loss of many lives and property. To curb religious extremism, Xinjiang has adopted a series of anti-terrorism and deradicalization measures, including vocational training, which have significantly improved public security in the region, effectively curtailed religious extremism, and maintained ethnic unity and religious harmony. Xinjiang has not seen any terrorist attacks in the past almost four years.

However, these effective Chinese policies that conform to both China's laws and the basic spirit and principles of the UN on fighting terrorism have been discredited by the US. On Dec 3, 2019, the US House of Representatives passed the so-called Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019, which, in addition to attacking the human rights situation in Xinjiang, tries to distort China's deradicalization efforts. It also announced sanctions against relevant officials in Xinjiang.

China's rapid growth in recent years has created anxiety in the US about its waning hegemony. The US' double standard on the antiterrorism issue is seen by some in the US as a means to block China's development. It is reflected perfectly in the US' change of stance, from cooperating with China on anti-terrorism to sabotaging China's counterterrorism efforts.

GONG LUPING, A CHINESE EXPERT ON XINJIANG