Stop double standard on terrorism

A group of terrorists, armed with daggers and homemade bombs, attacked police officers investigating terrorist activities in Shufu county of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Dec 15. The clash that ensued left 16 people - two police officers and 14 attackers - dead. Six suspects have been arrested with incriminating evidence during the investigation and raids that followed in the county, which is administered by Kashgar.

For the Chinese government, the Shufu attack is another act of terrorism - the latest in the list of Uygur-related terrorist attacks this year. For the Western media, however, the incident is another reaction to China's "restrictions on the culture, language and religion ... in energy rich Xinjiang". The US response to the attack once again exposes the double standard the West uses in the global fight against terrorism.

The US played the same game even after the terrorist attack in Beijing on Oct 28. While China said the jeep crash on Tian'anmen Square was a terrorist attack, the US refused to refer to it as an act of terrorism and the US media stood by their government. CNN even published an op-ed article titled, "Tian'anmen crash: Terrorism or cry of desperation?" by Sean R. Roberts. This evoked a barrage of criticism from Chinese media outlets, which accused Roberts of sympathizing with terrorists and using double standard in the fight against terrorism.