Conductor Valery Gergiev (right) rehearses in St. Petersburg, Russia. Photo: IC

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The West is using its own double standards to vent anti-Russian sentiment toward innocent Russian musicians, artists and athletes, forcing them to condemn their mother country. 

This hypocritical and abhorrent behavior has provoked the anger of many Chinese netizens, especially after the news that Russian conductor Valery Gergiev was sacked by the Munich Philharmonic went viral on Chinese social media on Wednesday.

Media reports said that the famed German symphony orchestra sacked its 68-year-old principal conductor with immediate effect on Tuesday after he refused to speak out against the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The hashtag for "Russian music conductor fired" has earned 130 million views on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, with a lot of discussion about it.

"Is this the Western so called 'democracy' and 'freedom,' to force civilians to stand out, and fire them if they do not express their opinions?" one netizen asked on Weibo. 
 
"This is nonsense. How do they explain this when they call for 'music without borders?' They are so fake," another netizen wrote on Weibo.

Gergiev is not the only one suffering in this crisis. From sports to art, many individuals, groups and companies in Russia are being targeted by the West. 

Many Russian art exhibitions, concerts and ballet performances in the West have been cancelled. International events that are supposed to be held in Russia are also being cancelled by the International sporting events bodies in the west. 

On Tuesday, the International Skating Union (ISU) announced it is barring all Russian ice skaters from participating in international skating competitions.

Disney and Sony Pictures announced it would pause all theatrical releases in Russia, including the upcoming Pixar film Turning Red. Warner Bros' The Batman, which would have started showing on Friday in Russia, was paused too.

Russian performers are being pressured to offer the "correct" opinion, and if they don't they will be despised due to the so-called "political correctness" in the Western world. So, in order to protect their own safety, they have to do it, and those who don't stand with them are attacked and punished.

This reminds me that last year, the well-known British writer J.K. Rowling was barred from the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the hugely successful book series she created, due to her controversial comments about transgender issues. 

If the West continues using this double standard toward their so-called friends and enemies, they will one day be destroyed by the standards they set.