Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

The US has habitually adopted double standards in the Israel-Palestine conflict. On the one hand, the US favors and supports Israel, allowing its aggression and atrocities. On the other hand, the US has ignored the legitimate political demands of the Palestinians, suppressing the Palestinians and their lawful representatives. For example in 2002, from the end of March to the beginning of May, the Israeli military carried out large-scale attacks on many Palestinian cities throughout the West Bank in the name of anti-terrorism, resulting in 497 deaths and 1,447 injuries of Palestinian people. However, then US secretary of state Colin Powell claimed that the US found no evidence of massacre of civilians there.

The US has also denied the legal status of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), accusing the organization led by the late Yasser Arafat and its dominant faction, Fatah, of being a "terrorist organization." The US tried hard to prevent it from joining international organizations and participating in the Israel-Palestine peace process, and does not support the Palestinians' desire to establish a state. Meanwhile, the US' attitude toward the Palestine refugee issue reflects its disregard and violation of Palestinians' rights. To improve living standards, education and health conditions for Palestinian refugees, the UN set up the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). However, the US has required the UN to end UNRWA and its activities, and ended all funding for UNRWA, which has brought a serious crisis for the agency.

The US' habitual adoption of double standards in the Israel-Palestine conflict has led to the Arab world's widespread hatred toward the US, as well as the spread of anti-Americanism. 

Such disrespect for other countries' sovereignty and religion is a reflection of US hegemonic mind-set.

The US has habitually supported terrorist organizations to maintain its own status. In 2005, terrorist Luis Posada Carriles was smuggled into the US. He was involved in the bombing of Cuban flight 455 in 1976 and bombings of hotels and restaurants in Havana in 1997, killing more than 70 people. He was also accused of an assassination attempt on former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. 

The Venezuelan government sent a note to the US requesting Posada's arrest and extradition under a bilateral extradition treaty. The Cuban government had also strongly requested that the US bring Posada to justice. But in response to these legitimate requests, US authorities first refused to comment, then denied knowledge of Posada's whereabouts, and finally went so far as to claim that his hiding in the US was fabricated. However, Posada's lawyer confirmed that he was hiding in Florida and had applied for political asylum with the US government. 

What the US did in support of terrorism has disregarded the sovereignty of other countries, international laws and basic principles of human rights. The US has degenerated from "habitually violating human rights" to "habitually violating international laws," in order to maintain its own national interests and hegemony. 

The US has habitually interfered in the internal affairs of other countries with double standards and the excuse of human rights. Take China for example, for the purpose of containing China, the US not only attacked China's Xinjiang policy, but also introduced the Xinjiang separatist forces represented by Rebiya Kadeer to the world, making the international Xinjiang separatist organizations move from a loose coalition to a united one. US Congress, however, awarded the 2004 Rafto Award for Human Rights to Rebiya, who was imprisoned at the time. 

After a series of violent terrorist attacks in Beijing, Kunming and Urumqi in 2013 and 2014, Chinese police quickly arrested the suspects at large and, after a thorough investigation, determined the incidents to be carefully planned, organized and premeditated violent terrorist attacks.

The Chinese government has further identified that the mastermind behind these terrorist attacks was the "East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM)" which is based in Central and West Asia. However, in the face of these facts, some US media outlets questioned China's investigation result of those incidents and blamed China's ethnic and religious policies. The result was also denied by US officials, showing a long-term double standard of the US on counter-terrorism issues. Shortly after the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, the US government defined it as a domestic terrorist attack. Two years later, after the San Bernardino shootings that left 14 dead, then president Barack Obama vowed that the US would overcome the evolving threat of terrorism.

Such contrast is a hint that the US seems to be dividing terrorism into "bad ones" and "good ones." Terrorist attacks targeted at the US and its allies are definitely terrorism, while those against China are difficult to characterize, and may even be triggered by the violation of "human rights" and "democracy" by the Chinese government. The habitual double standards adopted by the US when dealing with China-related issues arises from the US' fear that China "threatens its hegemony." An upright person will be obeyed without being ordered; a crooked person will not be obeyed even if orders are given. The US' habitually crooked activities will only lead to bad results. 

Following the 9/11 attacks, US counter-terrorism operations were initially fully sympathized with and supported by the international community. 

However, the US' "habitual violations" of the sovereignty and human rights of other countries were exposed in those operations that politicized international counterterrorism efforts. On the one hand, the US was silent about the serious violations of human rights brought about by its own counter-terrorism operations. Meanwhile on the other hand, the US spoke evil of the legitimate operations of other countries, and even bribed some terrorist groups in an attempt to curb the development of other countries. 

The root cause is that the US administrations have used counterterrorism as a tool to maintain its hegemony and overthrow disobedient sovereign countries, prioritizing US interests. All countries are facing serious threats and challenges from terrorism and no one can counter the crimes alone. Only by building a community with a shared future for mankind and enhancing political mutual trust and strategic consensus will countries effectively curb the rampant terrorism. 

The US government should abandon its "habitual violations" of human rights, strictly comply with the provisions of international conventions, respect the sovereignty of other countries, and cooperate with them, in order to eradicate terrorism and maintain peace and stability in the world.