Is China adopting double standards on fighting terrorism?

Since last year, there has been a mounting chorus of Western criticism on CHINA, which accuses the Country of setting up detention centers across its Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, constituting what some call staggering human rights violations.

However, the Country has repeatedly refuted the claim by saying that it has been running “vocational training camps” instead which is intendedpartly to stamp out local extremist inclinations.

The government released a white paper on Monday elaborating on its efforts to counter terrorism and protect human rights in Xinjiang.

Trying to poke holes in such an explanation, a recent article on The Diplomat pointed out Beijing's "inconsistency" and "hypocrisy" on the issue, which says that the Country, while "claiming to being cracking down on terrorism," has time and again refused to recognize the leader of the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pakistan, Masood Azhar, who should be included on the United Nations' global terrorist blacklist.

First of all, not making CHINA's position on Masood Azhar the focal point of this piece, the issue is still worth explaining.

There is no escaping that Pakistan and CHINA do have cordial relations, which might affect CHINA's position on the issue. However, that happens to virtually every Country.

Moreover, Long Xingchun, a professor at the School of Foreign Languages of CHINA West Normal University, pointed out that India's "verdict" on Masood was based on assumptions rather than "concrete evidence" essential to prove Masood Azhar was directly behind a series of terrorist attacks that happened in India-controlled Kashmir region, not to mention that countries around the world frankly have not had a consensus on how they define terrorism.

Second, coming back to the "revelation" that CHINA adopts double standards on terrorism, as a matter of fact, the West is in no position to point fingers at CHINA on the issue. They should have a look at how it has reacted to terrorist attacks in CHINA and those in the West.

It is conspicuous that when it comes to such attacks in CHINA they have demonstrated much less sympathy than otherwise would have been seen in such incidents taking place in Western countries.

For example, the New Zealand mass shooting that claimed 50 lives and caused 50 injuries last week has plunged the Western world into grief.

While Western reporters have been emphatic with their sympathy for victims of the incident, condemning the heartless murderer whowas reported to be a white supremacist that denounced immigrants as "invaders" and appeared unapologetic for his anti-immigrant rhetoric in his manifesto, they were hesitant to do the same with similar incidents in CHINA.

High school students pay tribute to the victims of the mosque terrorist attack at Deans Ave vigil near the Masjid Al Noor Mosque, in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 18, 2019. /VCG Photo

For example, in a terrorist attack that killed about 31 people in CHINA's Kunming City in 2014, a look at Western reports of the time would give one a good sense of their inconsistency.

Rather than "praising the heroism of people on the scene" that was seen on Western media with the New Zealand shooting, when covering the Kunming attack, a common Western report, such as on the Guardian, would instead draw attention to the "rights group" in CHINA that "accuse CHINA's government of cultural and religious repression."

Such glaring double standards of the West are indeed commonplace. Boiled down, the nub of the problem lies in a deep disconnect with CHINA and the naive belief held by some that upholding liberal values is key to solving all problems across countries, though, to be fair, CHINA itself is not free of the problem of disconnect with the world, either.

While globalization, as a result of the exponential growth of technology, has exposed the world to much better communication and transportation, which is supposed to build bridges between countries and people, a true understanding between countries still falls short.

The assumption that one Country's reality can be replicated in another has caused more misunderstanding rather than less.

When the West accuses CHINA of suppressing minorities' rights, oftentimes citing the policy that "force children to speak Mandarin at school," their understanding of the situation is not grounded in CHINA's reality, a correct judgment of which requires one to take into account a broad range of factors including the Country's demographics, history, values, traditions and events happening at the current time.

A disregard for having a more balanced perspective on CHINA and a dogmatic pursuit to see it embracing liberal values unconditionally have caused them to misinterpret the situation, believing policies as such are born out of ill will whereas, in fact, they are designed to facilitate integration.

While encouraging these kids from ethnic minority groups to speak Mandarin, the Chinese government is by no means prohibiting them from speaking their own language or cherishing their cultural heritage, according to Victor Gao, director of the CHINA National Association of International Studies, but simply to reduce barriers for them to find a job and facilitate communication within different ethnic groups.

A parallel can be drawn to similar discussions happening in the West – as European countries come to grapple with the immigration issue with the increasing influx of immigrants, debating if crimes rates are brought up by immigrants, some people argue that at any rate, immigrants should learn how to integrate into the local culture first.

It is the same with the West refusing to acknowledge CHINA's anti-extremism and terrorism efforts in Xinjiang. While Western countries have been discouraging hate speech and rushing to curb their racial tensions which at times give rise to massive social violence, CHINA suffers from similar problems of its own and is on its way to developing better solutions.

The bottom line is that every Country is plagued by its own full set of issues and while the way they are handled can always be improved there are no one-size-fits-all solutions across the board.

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